{"id":54268,"date":"2025-05-18T00:48:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T23:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=54268"},"modified":"2025-05-18T00:48:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T23:48:37","slug":"former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Middleweight Champion Backs Dricus Du Plessis To Win the Fight Against the Unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The UFC Middleweight division is set for a seismic clash at <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/mma\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>UFC <\/a>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&rsquo;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.<\/p><p>Chimaev, who is currently 14-0-0 in his MMA career, has been eyeing the <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/mma\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>UFC <\/a>title for quite a while now. However, injuries and his health were one of the key reasons why he hasn&rsquo;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. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#128680; BREAKING! Dricus Du Plessis will fight Khamzat Chimaev at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFC319?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>#UFC319<\/a> on August 16th in Chicago<br><br>(per <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/danawhite?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>@danawhite<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>#UFC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MMA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>#MMA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iXu5EkNjdf\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/iXu5EkNjdf<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChampRDS\/status\/1922415914001035764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>May 13, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/ufc-fight-night-sodiq-yusuff-vs-marion-santos-head-to-head-comparison-tale-of-the-tape\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'><strong>UFC Fight Night Sodiq Yusuff vs. Mairon Santos Head to Head Comparison, Tale of the Tape and More!<\/strong><\/a><\/p><p>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&rsquo;s find out more.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sean Strickland Picked Du Plessis To Win the Fight at UFC 319 Against Chimaev<\/h2><p>Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland picked Dricus Du Plessis to win the fight against Chimaev at <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/mma\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>UFC <\/a>319 stating, <strong><em>&ldquo;if he can counter wrestle Khamzat, I think Dricus wins.&rdquo;<\/em><\/strong><\/p><blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DJwhHa9siW7\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"><div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DJwhHa9siW7\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'> <div style=\" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\"> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;\"><svg width=\"50px\" height=\"50px\" viewbox=\"0 0 60 60\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\"><g stroke=\"none\" stroke-width=\"1\" fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><g transform=\"translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)\" fill=\"#000000\"><g><path d=\"M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631\"><\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div><div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\"> <div style=\" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/a><p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DJwhHa9siW7\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>A post shared by MMA On Point (@mmaonpoint)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><p>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&rsquo;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 <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/mma\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>UFC <\/a>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.<\/p><p>Usman believes that if the fight was set for 5 rounds instead of 3, he might have come out on top. There&rsquo;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. <\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sean Strickland Has Fought Du Plessis Twice<\/h2><p>Strickland is the only fighter that Dricus Du Plessis has fought twice in the <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/mma\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>UFC<\/a>, 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&rsquo;s needed, you best believe that&rsquo;s the way to win the fight. <\/p><p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/mma\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>UFC <\/a>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.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">AND STILL &#127942;<br><br>Dricus Du Plessis defeats Sean Strickland in the rematch to remain the middleweight champion &#128170; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFC312?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>#UFC312<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HcyuTxX3hH\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/HcyuTxX3hH<\/a><\/p>&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn\/status\/1888471750335176864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>February 9, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/ufc-fight-night-gilbert-burns-vs-michael-morales-head-to-head-comparison-tale-of-the-tape-and-more\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'><strong>UFC Fight Night Gilbert Burns vs Michael Morales Head to Head Comparison, Tale of the Tape and More!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&rsquo;ll finally get to see the fight between [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":54270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1783],"tags":[1863,2142,1862,1983,6774],"class_list":["post-54268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mma","tag-dricus-du-plessis","tag-khamzat-chimaev","tag-sean-strickland","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-319"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Middleweight Champion Backs Dricus Du Plessis To Win the Fight Against the Unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev - The Playoffs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland predicts Dricus Du Plessis will defeat unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Middleweight Champion Backs Dricus Du Plessis To Win the Fight Against the Unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev - The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland predicts Dricus Du Plessis will defeat unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-18T00:48:37+01:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eric Divakaran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/x.com\/EricHar44584857\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ThePlayoffsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eric Divakaran\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eric Divakaran\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/98ac2e1774499fd4d7a7e37d04514940\"},\"headline\":\"Former Middleweight Champion Backs Dricus Du Plessis To Win the Fight Against the Unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-17T23:48:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-17T23:48:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev\/\"},\"wordCount\":714,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.theplayoffs.news\/en\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081625-ufc-319-du-plessis-vs-chimaev-TEMP-HERO.avif\",\"keywords\":[\"Dricus Du Plessis\",\"Khamzat Chimaev\",\"Sean Strickland\",\"UFC\",\"UFC 319\"],\"articleSection\":[\"MMA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/former-middleweight-champion-backs-dricus-du-plessis-win-the-fight-against-unbeaten-khamzat-chimaev\/\",\"name\":\"Former Middleweight Champion Backs Dricus Du Plessis To Win the Fight Against the Unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev - 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