MMA Great Demetrious Johnson: On the Feet, Dricus Du Plessis Can Outstrike Khamzat Chimaev

Demetrious Johnson thinks if Dricus Du Plessis can keep his fight with Khamzat Chimaev on the feet, he’ll likely leave with his middleweight gold intact.

DDP’ secured his second successful title defense in Sydney, Australia, scoring a dominant decision victory over Sean Strickland. And while much of Du Plessis’ post-fight comments were focused on a future fight with light heavyweight king Alex Pereira, all signs currently point to a highly anticipated clash with the undefeated Chechen monster being next for the South African star.

Breaking down a potential showdown between Du Plessis and Chimaev, flyweight great Demetrious Johnson believes ‘DDP’ can outstrike Chimaev on the feet. It’s just a matter of fending off the wrestle-heavy attack of ‘Borz’ and forcing him to stand and trade.

“And it’s gonna be a sick fight because we know what Khamzat’s going to do,” Johnson said during an interview with The MMA Guru. “You know he’s going to go out there—he’s going to look to wrestle, right? Yeah, he does a good job. I don’t want to say he’s just posing on the feet, but when he fought Kamaru Usman, when he fought Robert Whittaker—everybody he’s fought, besides Gilbert Burns, and him went toe-to-toe on the feet.

“But I think Khamzat loves the grappling, and we’re going to see if DDP can use, you know, his clumsy style and outwrestle Khamzat. Because I think if it does stay on the feet, DDP can outstrike him. Yeah, Khamzat does have a rhythm to him, but he’s not very—you know, like bah bah bah—he doesn’t really throw a lot of combinations.”

Can Du Plessis hang with ‘Borz’ on the mat?

While Du Plessis is not necessarily known for his ground game, ‘Stillknocks’ have proven himself more than capable of taking fighters down and fending off opposing wrestlers. Through his nine fights inside the Octagon, ‘DDP’ has a takedown average of 2.55 per 15 minutes. He also lands and defends 50% of all takedowns initiated by or against him.

Strickland landed six takedowns against both Darren Till and Sean Strickland in their first meeting. He also put former two-time middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya on the mat four times during their UFC 305 headliner before tapping out ‘The Last Stylebender’ in the fourth round via a rear-naked choke.

On the flip side, Khamzat Chimaev averages 4.31 takedowns with a 46% accuracy. He has also never once been taken down inside the Octagon.