On August 16, two huge personalities will collide in Chicago with the UFC middleweight title on the line.
To prepare for his first chance to seize UFC gold, Khamzat Chimaev has removed any distractions by training in the mountain village of Kislovodsk.
The champion, Dricus du Plessis, is confident that he will become the first man to defeat his challenger but many fans have the same concern heading into this matchup.
‘Borz’ brings a feared wrestling skillset to the table which he will surely look to implement when he returns at the United Center.
While some may make the case for why du Plessis will be able to stop Chimaev’s grappling, others are less convinced after watching some new footage.
Fans praise Khamzat Chimaev after watching footage of him grappling with Abdulrashid Sadulaev
In a video posted on his Instagram, Khamzat Chimaev spent some time working with one of the most acclaimed wrestlers in the world today.
Abdulrashid Sadulaev has quite the trophy cabinet with two Olympic gold medals and six world championships to his name.
‘The Russian Tank’ has done it all at 29-years-old and is just one of two competitors who has won world titles in three different weight classes.
Chimaev may not have anywhere near the same credentials, though he does have three Swedish freestyle national championships under his belt, but he’s widely considered to be one of the best wrestlers in MMA.
Though some fans claimed, via a repost of the video on X (formerly Twitter), that Sadulaev was going easy on Chimaev and playing around with him, the video left a lot of people impressed nonetheless.
‘DDP is in trouble’
‘Holding his own against one of the best wrestlers alive, that’s cool’
‘There’s levels to this, Khamzat will be the champion.’
‘Bye Dricus. It’s been real.’
‘DDP going to get destroyed’
‘Sadulaev is playing with him but this is very impressive’
Dricus du Plessis doesn’t have the best takedown defense record
With Dricus du Plessis being known for his awkward striking style, the middleweight champion is great at crossing distance and keeping opponents guessing.
‘Stillknocks’ has also proven himself to be a more than capable grappler but his takedown defense isn’t particularly impressive based on stats alone.
Du Plessis’ takedown accuracy and defense are both 50%, though he has only been taken down on three occasions according to UFC stats.
| Opponent who took Dricus du Plessis down | Event | Number of takedowns landed |
| Robert Whittaker | UFC 290 | 1 |
| Derek Brunson | UFC 285 | 1 |
| Darren Till | UFC 282 | 1 |
It’s also worth taking into account other factors that could influence these numbers, like du Plessis becoming tired after overexerting himself in some of his earlier fights.