“This arc of my story was written a long time ago. Our paths are destined to cross again. Look forward to the next episode, thanks for watching. We are writing history!” the Nigerian wrote on social media, posting a snippet of a joint training session with the South African from eight years ago.
The title fight between Strickland and Du Plessis, headlined by UFC 297 in Toronto, went the full distance and ended in a split decision defeat for the American.
UFC head, Dana White, said at the post-event press conference that in his opinion Strickland won the fight, but ruled out the possibility of the former champion getting an immediate rematch.
At the same time, the head of the organization avoided a direct answer to the question of who will be the next opponent of the new champion – Israel Adesanya or Hamzat Chimaev, who managed to challenge the representative of South Africa.
The potential confrontation between Adesanya and Du Plessis is intrigued by a personal conflict that arose after the South African promised to become the UFC’s first true African champion, questioning the New Zealand-based Nigerian’s African identity.