Just imagine! You are on the path to your first UFC championship opportunity, and most of the fighting community cast their votes in your favor. But with just a few weeks left to the bout, your opponent injures himself, snatching that title shot away from you. How would you feel? Agony? Rage? Well, that’s exactly what Khamzat Chimaev felt when Dricus Du Plessis got himself injured prior to their rumored UFC 317 date. Yes, that’s what we’ll go through in today’s episode of EssentiallySports’ MMA News Roundup.
First up, we’ll take a look at Chimaev’s response to Du Plessis’ injury. Then we’ll move to Paddy Pimblett’s desire to climb to the welterweight division. And finally, we’ll see how Alex Pereira made the fighting realm laugh on Easter. So without any further ado, let’s dive right in!
Khamzat Chimaev has an angry message for Dricus Du Plessis
After Dricus Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland in their title rematch at UFC 312, Khamzat Chimaev was the fighter next in line to fight for the middleweight championship. But before things could have moved to the Octagon, the middleweight champion injured himself owing to an article from veteran MMA journalist Kevin Iole. Well, the complete details of the injury are yet to be revealed directly from the South African camp. But it does seem like ‘Stillknocks’ wouldn’t be fighting the Chechen Wolf at UFC 317 anymore. And that has certainly made ‘Borz’ angry!
Chimaev took to X to express his feelings. He simply wrote, “This guy biggest bull–it,” and then added a facepalm emoji. Nevertheless, he still has an opponent. Caio Borralho has been eyeing the road to the championship title for a long while now. With Du Plessis out of the visible UFC 317 picture, the Fighting Nerd sent forth a challenge for Chimaev. And reportedly, the Chechen Wolf agreed to fight the Brazilian.
This guy biggest bullshit
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) April 20, 2025
According to Borralho, the duo would fight for the interim 185lbs championship belt. But whether it’ll happen or not is something that only time can tell. For now, let’s move on to our next piece of the roundup.
Paddy Pimblett plans to move to the welterweight division in the future
Like most champions, Paddy Pimblett has also expressed his desire to become a two-division champion. Of course, with the 7-fight win streak in the Octagon, he’s rushing to the top of the lightweight division. Confident in his skills, he claimed that he would definitely get to wear the lightweight championship gold soon. And after that, he planned on coming for Belal Muhammad’s 170lbs throne.
Appearing on It’s Time with Bruce Buffer on the latter’s YouTube channel, ‘The Baddy’ said, “Maybe after taking the 155 belt I’ll take the 170 one… I can see me doing it, especially in the years to come when you get a bit older and the weight cut gets a bit harder… What do they call them, superfights? If there’s somebody at 170 that’s a good matchup and can sell pay-per-views.”
Now, let’s move to the final story for the day. Here, we’ll see Alex Pereira in a costume that he has never worn before. And he not only aced the cute looks, but also showed his dangerous side.
Alex Pereira gets in a bunny costume for Easter
Full Send MMA released a video of the former light heavyweight champion wearing a white bunny costume to mark the celebration of Easter. Needless to say, the costume looked pretty cute on ‘Poatan’. But one must not forget that he’s the man with the hands of stone. No matter how he looked, he had a dangerous power in his fists. Apparently, the host of Rango Brabo made the grave error of undermining Pereira’s strength in an Easter bunny suit.
The YouTuber asked ‘Poatan’ to hit him in the belly. No doubt, he wore padded armor to defend himself. But Pereira’s punches were strong enough to put him down in agony. The caption to the video on Full Send MMA’s IG page read, “Nothing to see here, just Alex Pereira in a giant Easter Bunny costume ripping a body shot on a YouTuber and casually shadowboxing afterwards.”
What are your thoughts on Chimaev’s anger over Du Plessis’ injury? Do you think Pimblett can survive the strength of the current welterweight roster? What are your thoughts on Pereira’s bunny outfit? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post MMA News Roundup – Khamzat Chimaev Confirms Dricus Du Plessis Injury Before UFC 317; Paddy Pimblett Puts Belal Muhammad on Alert; Alex Pereira’s Easter Bunny Outfit Goes Viral appeared first on EssentiallySports.
