Chimaev’s Next Victim? Du Plessis Begs to Differ

The undefeated Middleweight challenger Khamzat Chimaev, who has soared up the Middleweight rankings, believes that taking out the current dominant champion, Dricus Du Plessis will be an easy feat. Will the South African be able to outlast yet another opponent? Or will “Borz” take him down with ease?

The beef between the two fighters started in September 2024 when Khamzat was being interviewed by Adam Zubayraev, where he stated that Dricus “is a bad version of me”, laying down the frameworks for a future fight between the two warriors.

The same day, Khamzat took to instagram to post a picture of him in a mirror showing off his physique, but it had seemed like Dricus wasn’t going to let him get away with insulting him so casually.

If you are confused about the “cold” comment that Dricus had made fun of Chimaev for, heres an explanation: Chimaev has always been a very large sized contender, even when he was fighting a weightclass below in Welterweight. During the end of his career in Welterweight he would experience a deadly sickness any time that he would cut weight (dehydrate) for a fight. Fans speculate that Chimaev’s immense size, which he aims to maintain for the fight, drives him to push weight cutting to extreme limits, putting significant strain on his body. Here is a photo attached below of Khamzat during a weight cut.

Now, while weight cutting is a normal part of the sport, this specific weight cut is a key component to how the fight with Dricus will go, as Dricus is also a very big Middleweight. Fans speculate that Dricus’s size will be a huge factor for Khamzat, as some of Khamzat’s past opponents have been those of smaller size than him, even taking Robert Whittaker as an example.

Regardless if you think that Khamzat only won because of his size, you cannot deny that taking out Robert in the first round is no easy feat. Khamzat believes that if Robert can take Dricus down, it will be an easy takedown for Chimaev.

Dricus, coming off of a win against Sean Strickland in their rematch, makes it clear during his post fight interviews on who he wants to fight next.

There are two things that are clear in this match up; #1: If Khamzat can get Dricus down in the early rounds before he gasses out, he has a very high likelihood of winning. #2: If Dricus can weather the storm and take Khamzat into the later rounds, he has a very high chance of finishing Khamzat or taking him to a decision. The opening odds for this fight favour Khamzat, as he is the one that most people believe will dethrone the champion.

This fight is highly likely to happen this year as both fighters are willing. The question is who will be the winner on that faithful night? You can’t count out Dricus as he has risen to the occasion multiple times in his UFC career, but the hungry “Wolf” Khamzat is chasing gold, and Dricus is the only man in his way.