The Chechen fighter, ranked ninth in the organization’s middleweight division rankings, said this in an interview with youtuber Mohammed Hijab during a trip to Birmingham.
“Now Strickland is going to fight Du Plessis – if he wins, we’re going to fight, one hundred percent,” Borz said. “They promised me this fight. We just have to wait to see which one of them wins and take the championship belt from him.”
In October last year, Khamzat Chimaev won the challenger’s match by a three round majority decision over Kamaru Usman, but was forced to concede his title shot to Du Plessis due to an injury sustained in the fight and subsequent illness.
As a reminder, a title fight between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis will headline UFC 297 in Toronto on Jan. 20.