Credits: UFC.com

Former Middleweight Champion Backs Dricus Du Plessis To Win the Fight Against the Unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev

Credits: UFC.com

The UFC Middleweight division is set for a seismic clash at UFC 319, where the current champion Dricus Du Plessis faces the unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev. There is a ton of anticipation for this fight, as both the fighters have been been trading words for years now, and we’ll finally get to see the fight between the two middleweights, which the fans have been begging UFC President Dana White for over a year. Initially there was some fear about the fight getting cancelled as there were rumors about Du Plessis being injured, but rest assured the fight will finally happen and we cannot wait to see who wins this bout.

Chimaev, who is currently 14-0-0 in his MMA career, has been eyeing the UFC title for quite a while now. However, injuries and his health were one of the key reasons why he hasn’t fought for the title so far. The last time we saw Chimaev inside the octagon was in October of 2024, where he submitted Robert Whittaker in the very first round of the fight. Meanwhile, the champ Du Plessis, has successfully defended his middleweight belt two times against Strickland and Adesanya, and he was also eyeing for a fight against Chimaev.

🚨 BREAKING! Dricus Du Plessis will fight Khamzat Chimaev at #UFC319 on August 16th in Chicago

(per @danawhite) #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/iXu5EkNjdf
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 13, 2025

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Now that the fight is set to happen at UFC 319, a former UFC middleweight champion gave his take on who he thinks will win the fight. Let’s find out more.

Sean Strickland Picked Du Plessis To Win the Fight at UFC 319 Against Chimaev

Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland picked Dricus Du Plessis to win the fight against Chimaev at UFC 319 stating, “if he can counter wrestle Khamzat, I think Dricus wins.”

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Many believe that Khamzat Chimaev is built to fight and win in the first two or three rounds of the fight, and is not the kind of fighter who can survive well beyond 2/3 rounds at best. The fight can go either ways but the common belief is that if Chimaev can finish Du Plessis off in the first two rounds of the fight, he’ll most likely get the win. But if the fight extended beyond, Du Plessis will have the bigger chance of taking home the belt again. The reason for this is because in his fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, Chimaev barely got the win over him as he won via majority decision. The fight was extremely close, and they fought for all three rounds.

Usman believes that if the fight was set for 5 rounds instead of 3, he might have come out on top. There’s also the fact that Chimaev has never fought for 5 rounds so far in his MMA career, which leaves a lot of questions about his cardio and endurance. On the other hand, Du Plessis is battle tested and can clearly handle himself even as the rounds go further. Hence, the belief that if Chimaev is not able to finish the champ in the first two or three rounds, Du Plessis could win the fight.

Sean Strickland Has Fought Du Plessis Twice

Strickland is the only fighter that Dricus Du Plessis has fought twice in the UFC, and the champ is currently 2-0 against him. Since Strickland has taken on Du Plessis twice, there is nobody that we feel knows the champ better than him. So we believe that if Strickland says counter wrestling is what’s needed, you best believe that’s the way to win the fight.

When Du Plessis faced Strickland at UFC 297, he stripped the belt away from him and became the first South African to win a UFC title. While Strickland vowed for revenge against the champ in a rematch at UFC 312, things did not go according to plan as Du Plessis put on a striking clinic in the rematch and was the fight via unanimous decision.

AND STILL 🏆

Dricus Du Plessis defeats Sean Strickland in the rematch to remain the middleweight champion 💪 #UFC312 pic.twitter.com/HcyuTxX3hH
— ESPN (@espn) February 9, 2025

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Dricus Du Plessis

Khamzat Chimaev

Sean Strickland

UFC

UFC 319

Eric Divakaran

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