To date, Khamzat Chimaev has never been taken down inside the Octagon. Despite that, when he and Dricus du Plessis share the Octagon in Chicago on Aug. 16, the middleweight champion and his team are planning to beat Borz at his own game.
During a recent UFC 319 Countdown video released by the UFC on YouTube, DDP’s coach, Morne Visser, boldly explained that DDP will do what no one else before him has been able to: out-wrestle Khamzat Chimaev.
“Khamzat doesn’t know what it is when people want to wrestle him. He’s only facing guys who are trying to get away from his wrestling. We don’t want to try to get away from his wrestling, we want to f*** him up in his game.
“You can’t think that you’re gonna beat my guy coming with one thing, and that’s wrestling. That guy is one-dimensional. Have you seen his standup? I wouldn’t even give him a pro license for his standup. He doesn’t present any problem for us, we’re the problem.”
Of course, heading into the fight, Chimaev stands alone as the only currently ranked fighter never to have been taken down.
You can see Visser speaking about the fight at the 26-minute mark of the video below.
‘I’m Going in There to Fight My Fight’ – DDP Talks Chimaev Fight
Throughout his career, Dricus du Plessis has risen to the occasion time and time again.
Early on in his UFC career, DDP repeatedly picked up big wins despite questions about his cardio. After eventually getting surgery that allowed him to finally breathe through his nose, du Plessis seemed to elevate his game to the next level, finishing Darren Till, Derek Brunson, and Robert Whittaker in the span of less than a year.
Now, after title defenses over Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland, the champ has his sights set on an equally-impressive performance against Chimaev.
During the aforementioned UFC 319 Countdown video, the champ explained:
“We’re preparing like we’ve never prepared before. I’m not going in there to fight his fight, I’m going in there to fight my fight. Just like I dealt with Adesanya’s striking and I dealt with Strickland’s boxing, I’m going to deal with Khamzat’s wrestling.”
Dricus du Plessis Sets Sights on UFC Africa Card With Win
While there had previously been talk of the UFC bringing a potential Adesanya vs. Du Plessis card to Africa, the event never came to fruition.
Now, ahead of the champ’s upcoming fight with Khamzat Chimaev, DDP is eager to defend his title in Africa, explaining in an interview with the New York Post this week that he plans to do everything he can to make the event happen following UFC 319.
“The right people were speaking to each other. I was involved in these conversations, (but) as soon as this fight was made, my attention shifted to this fight.”
“I know the conversations are there between the UFC and South Africa, and the sports ministers, and the cities, and the arenas, everything is in conversation.”
Depending on how things play out in the Nassourdine Imavov-Caio Borralho fight scheduled for the UFC Fight Night: Paris card next month, the winner could very well find themselves set to fight Dricus du Plessis in Africa.
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