Will Khamzat Chimaev have the stamina to go toe-to-toe with middleweight king Dricus Du Plessis?
One UFC Hall of Famer doesn’t seem to think so.
With Du Plessis’ dominant decision victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 312, the stage has been set for a showdown between ‘DDP’ and the undefeated Chechen monster. When and where their inevitable clash takes place remains to be seen, but the oddsmakers are already favoring ‘Borz’ to come out on top.
Chimaev opened as a -200 favorite on multiple sports-betting apps after UFC 312. However, former 185-pound titleholder Michael Bisping seems to think that might be a mistake.
“He wants Khamzat,” Bisping said on his Believe You Me podcast. “He wants the boogeyman. He wants the guy that just destroyed Robert Whittaker. And I tell you what, if I’m Khamzat, I wouldn’t be quite so sure. I’m not saying that Khamzat isn’t incredible, but against Usman and against Gilbert Burns, he wasn’t able to have his way.
And it’s a broken record at this point, but you get him outside of the first round, yeah, and things start to change. And Dricus is as big, as strong, and as resilient as they come. I did an interview with him on Tuesday—he was 215 on the Tuesday before the weight cut.”
Since the odds for Du Plessis vs. Chimaev were first released, the gap has already narrowed on multiple sportsbooks with ‘DDP’ moving to a much more reasonable +160 underdog. Of course, those odds will likely continue to shift once the fight is officially announced and we have an idea of when and where the two will clash in the cage.
Can Du Plessis drag Khamzat Chimaev into deep waters in eventual UFC title tilt?
Thus far, Du Plessis is a perfect 9-0 under the UFC banner with two of his last three fights going a full five rounds — a distance Chimaev has never once gone in his mixed martial arts career. In fact, ‘Borz’ has only gone 15 minutes twice through 14 total fights. Those instances came against Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman. And in both cases, Chimaev noticeably began to fade in the latter half of the fight.
If Du Plessis can survive long enough to drag Chimaev into the championship rounds, there’s a good chance it’ll be #AndStill instead of #AndNew.
