Khamzat Chimaev won’t have everything his own way in his rumoured title fight against 185-pound champ Dricus du Plessis later this year.
Chimaev is expected to challenge the South African champion for the middleweight championship later this year (though not in late June, as confirmed by Dana White) in what will be the undefeated fighter’s first title opportunity since entering the UFC in the summer of 2020.
The challenger has been largely untested in his UFC career to date, save for a few sketchy moments against Gilbert Burns in their classic tilt a few years ago and has been widely regarded as future champion since his dramatic entry to the UFC where he won three bouts inside his first 66 days in the organisation — and two in his first ten days.
But according to former ONE Championship two-division champion Reinier de Ridder, who has trained with both men, the smart money will be on Du Plessis.
“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,” De Ridder told MMA Fighting. “He moves very well, although it looks a bit funny at times. His footwork is not that bad. He gets out. He circles pretty well.
“I don’t see Khamzat taking him down right away and to be honest, I don’t see Khamzat choking him out in the first round.”
Chimaev has largely employed a guns-blazing strategy throughout his UFC career to date, seeking to blow his opponents away early — but this has led to opportunities for the likes of Burns and Kamaru Usman to seize a foothold in their fights.
“Every round he doesn’t choke him out is going to get worse for him,” De Ridder predicted. “Because with that unorthodox style of Dricus and those heavy hands, I think it might be a long night for Khamzat.”
He added of the South African: “He keeps going. That’s the crazy thing. He looks dead tired, the technique [looks odd] 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.”
Reinier de Ridder fights Bo Nickal on Saturday night.
