UFC Analyst Hot Take: Dricus Du Plessis Holds the Keys to Beating Khamzat Chimaev
With Dricus Du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev all but confirmed, analysts are already beginning to pick sides.
Over the weekend, ‘DDP’ secured his second successful defense of the UFC middleweight title, scoring a dominant decision victory over Sean Strickland in Sydney, Australia.
Immediately after the win, Du Plessis called for a potential champion vs. champion showdown with light heavyweight king Alex Pereira. However, all signs point to ‘Stillknocks’ sticking around at 185 for at least one more fight to test his mettle against the undefeated Chechen monster.
During an appearance on Monday’s edition of The Ariel Helwani Show, former UFC fighter turned analyst Din Thomas offered his take on the highly anticipated title tilt, suggesting that Du Plessis’ ability to pace himself will be the difference-maker against Chimaev who’s always trying to sprint to the finish.
“Khamzat [Chimaev] is a sprinter… You can’t fight championship level fights for five rounds at the pace where he’s at his best,” Thomas said. “If he fights like that at his best, I think Dricus [du Plessis] is so durable and he’s so smart that he’ll be able to withstand that. Now they’re swimming in deep water and Khamzat can’t swim that deep… Pacing is a big factor.”
Chimaev opens as 2-to-1 favorite over dricus du plessis
Du Plessis’ last three fights have all been five-rounders with only one of them ending inside the distance. That being his UFC 305 defense against Israel Adesanya in which ‘DDP’ tapped out ‘The Last Stylebender’ at the 3:38 mark of the fourth round.
On the other hand, Chimaev has only gone a full three rounds twice in his mixed martial arts career, those being his fights against Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman. And in both instances, ‘Borz’ began to noticeably fade in the second half of both of those fights.
Even so, the oddsmakers don’t seem to agree with Thomas’ assessment. SportsBetting.ag opened Du Plessis as the betting underdog, favoring Chimaev to come out on top 2-to-1. However, ‘DDP’ has already closed the gap with him now sitting as a slight +125 underdog against Chimaev who is a -145 favorite.
