Will Khamzat Chimaev have the stamina to go toe-to-toe with middleweight king Dricus Du Plessis?
One UFC Corridor of Famer doesn’t appear to suppose so.
With Du Plessis’ dominant choice victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 312, the stage has been set for a showdown between ‘DDP’ and the undefeated Chechen monster. When and the place their inevitable conflict takes place stays to be seen, however the oddsmakers are already favoring ‘Borz’ to return out on high.
Chimaev opened as a -200 favourite on a number of sports-betting apps after UFC 312. Nonetheless, former 185-pound titleholder Michael Bisping appears to suppose that is likely to be a mistake.
“He desires Khamzat,” Bisping stated on his Imagine You Me podcast. “He desires the boogeyman. He desires the man that simply destroyed Robert Whittaker. And I let you know what, if I’m Khamzat, I wouldn’t be fairly so positive. I’m not saying that Khamzat isn’t unbelievable, however towards Usman and towards Gilbert Burns, he wasn’t in a position to have his method.
And it’s a damaged report at this level, however you get him outdoors of the primary spherical, yeah, and issues begin to change. And Dricus is as massive, as sturdy, and as resilient as they arrive. I did an interview with him on Tuesday—he was 215 on the Tuesday earlier than the burden minimize.”
For the reason that odds for Du Plessis vs. Chimaev had been first launched, the hole has already narrowed on a number of sportsbooks with ‘DDP’ shifting to a way more affordable +160 underdog. After all, these odds will doubtless proceed to shift as soon as the struggle is formally introduced and we’ve got an thought of when and the place the 2 will conflict within the cage.
Can Du Plessis drag Khamzat Chimaev into deep waters in eventual UFC title tilt?
To date, Du Plessis is an ideal 9-0 below the UFC banner with two of his final three fights going a full 5 rounds — a distance Chimaev has by no means as soon as gone in his blended martial arts profession. In actual fact, ‘Borz’ has solely gone quarter-hour twice by way of 14 whole fights. These cases got here towards Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman. And in each instances, Chimaev noticeably started to fade within the latter half of the struggle.
If Du Plessis can survive lengthy sufficient to pull Chimaev into the championship rounds, there’s an excellent probability it’ll be #AndStill as a substitute of #AndNew.
