One man will suffer defeat in the UFC for the first time when Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev meet.
Du Plessis will fight Chimaev in defense of the South African’s middleweight crown on August 16, when they headline the UFC 319 pay-per-view in Chicago.
To date, ‘Stillknocks’ has defied the predictions of many by beating Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland, and Israel Adesanya. But in the undefeated ‘Borz’, many think Du Plessis’ reign may reach a brutal conclusion.
And while one fighter who is very familiar with Chimaev’s game will be backing the Chechen come fight night, he does see a route to success for the champion.
Jack Hermansson sees a path to victory for Dricus du Plessis against Khamzat Chimaev
A 15-month injury layoff since Jack Hermansson defeated Joe Pyfer has booted ‘The Joker’ from the rankings. But the middleweight veteran is gearing up to return against Gregory Rodrigues at UFC 317 in June.
Should he have his hand raised and reignite a potential surge towards the title, Hermansson will have his eyes on the next championship clash in his division, as Du Plessis and Chimaev collide inside the United Center.
The 36-year-old knows Chimaev’s talents well having faced him in a wrestling match four years ago. To negate the smothering grappling, Hermansson thinks Du Plessis must take ‘Borz’ into deep waters.
“That’s going to be an amazing fight,” Hermansson told Home of Fight. “I think Khamzat is going to pull it off. Especially early, it’s going to be tough for Dricus.
“But if he can push the fight into the later rounds, I think he can have an advantage.
“I would bet my money on Khamzat in this one,” Hermansson added. “Some people think that he’s just going to run him [Du Plessis] over, but I think it’s going to be a tough fight.”
How Jack Hermansson fared against Khamzat Chimaev’s wrestling
Chimaev dominated Hermansson when they met in a freestyle wrestling match at Bulldog Fight Night 9 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
At the time, ‘Borz’ was days on from an emphatic win over Li Jingliang in his long-awaited UFC return and competed in the welterweight division.
With that in mind, Chimaev turned plenty of heads when he out-wrestled elite UFC competition in Hermansson at 187 pounds.
The pair now compete in the same weight class following issues on the scale that led to Chimaev moving to middleweight.
After getting the better of Kamaru Usman in his first bout back at 185 pounds, Chimaev steamrolled Robert Whittaker to earn his first title shot in the UFC.