Thank god we have Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev. The other two superfights in the sport– Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria and Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall increasingly unlikely– at least we will see ‘Borz’ take on the seemingly unstoppable middleweight champ at UFC 319 this August. If everyone, especially the Emirati contender can remain healthy, that is.
And Chimaev has actually opened as the betting favorite for their title clash. Which has come as a surprise to some, including Michael Bisping, who had a dire warning for the Chechnya native going into the fight.
“They always say when you become the champion, you get 30% better. This man [DDP] is improving all the time, he’s got tremendous grappling of his own. If Khamzat Chimaev thinks that he’s going to go out there and just take down Dricu Du Plessis and just choke him out like he’s some schmuck, like he doesn’t know what he’s doing, like he’s not someone that choked out an entire black belt jiu-jitsu team one after the other, then I think Khamzat Chimaev will be in for a rude awakening,” ‘The Count’ said on his official YouTube channel.
UFC 312 SYDNEY, Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa looks on after retaining his middleweight title against Sean Strickland of United States during the UFC 312 event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Sunday, February 9, 2025. ACHTUNG: NUR REDAKTIONELLE NUTZUNG, KEINE ARCHIVIERUNG UND KEINE BUCHNUTZUNG SYDNEY NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxAUSxNZLxPNGxFIJxVANxSOLxTGA Copyright: xMARKxEVANSx 20250209151434536697
Knowing Chimaev, of course, the Emirati’s game plan is going to be to use his legendary strength and try to drag ‘DDP’ down to the ground as soon as possible and maul him there. But as Bisping pointed out, the champ is unlikely to go Robert Whittaker’s way– who was submitted by ‘Borz’ in the very first round.
‘DDP’ is indeed a pretty big guy and strong as a bull. Not to mention the South African can more than handle himself on the ground and is very good in a scramble because of his explosiveness. Indeed, it would be a mistake if Chimaev was to take ‘DDP’ seriously. In fact, middleweight star Bo Nickal, who has worked with both the champ and ‘Borz’, has gone one step further and feels that Du Plessis has the edge going into the fight.
Bo Nickal explains why he favors Dricus Du Plessis over Khamzat Chimaev
“I’ve had some experience with both of the guys, I’ve trained with both of them, I’d say especially in a five round fight, Khamzat is most likely going to come out guns blazing again, shoot right away but Dricus is not that easy to take down,” Bo Nickal said in a recent interview.
The three-time NCAA wrestling champ felt that try as he might, Chimaev won’t actually be able to take down Du Plessis in the first round, let alone choke him out. And “every round he doesn’t choke him out is going to get worse for him,” especially because of “those heavy hands” ‘DDP possesses. “I think it might be a long night for Khamzat,” Nickal declared.
But the most important weapon in ‘DDP’s arsenal, according to Nickal, is his sheer unpredictability and absolutely unorthodox fighting style, which the middleweight prospect feels would just be too overwhelming for Chimaev in a long fight.
“He keeps going. That’s the crazy thing. He looks dead tired, the technique [just goes out the door] but somehow he stays strong, stays very explosive. I’m going with Dricus but Khamzat would be cool, too, if it gets it. But I think Dricus has a good chance,” he added. What do you think about Michael Bisping’s thoughts on the Chimaev-Du Plessis matchup?
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