Ahead of his title fight against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319, Khamzat Chimaev has been given some key advice by two UFC GOATs.
This coming Saturday at UFC 319, Khamzat Chimaev will finally fight for UFC gold when he takes on Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title in Chicago.
The fight has been a long time coming and after Du Plessis successfully defended his title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, he called for a fight against Chimaev.
Despite that, the UFC opted to make the rematch between ‘Stillknocks’ and Sean Strickland earlier this year because of Chimaev’s ongoing visa issues.
Chimaev given key advice by Khabib Nurmagomedov ahead of UFC 319
Throughout his UFC tenure so far, ‘Borz’ has received criticism on several occasions because of his personality, however, consensus greatest of all time Jon Jones has recently praised Chimaev for his character.
Despite still boasting a flawless record, the Chechen has shown some cardio issues in recent fights, and ahead of his first five round fight, some experts believe that could be a turning point in this matchup.
And because of that, Chimaev was recently given some advice from one of the greatest fighters ever, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who has told the 31-year-old to stand with the South African champion instead of trying to relentlessly wrestle him.
“Personally, I would advise Khamzat to strike with him. If I were coaching, I would give him different advice. If you put them straight boxing, Khamzat is better,” Khabib said on The Hustle Show.
Alexander Volkanovski agrees with Khabib’s advice to Chimaev
Although Khabib’s advice to Chimaev may seem controversial considering the Chechen’s dominant wrestling style, it would undoubtedly allow him to preserve his energy the longer the fight goes on.
And with that in mind, current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has agreed with Khabib’s advice to Chimaev.
“I heard Khabib talking about Chimaev should probably box, you see how clever Khabib is, a lot of people are like ‘Why would he stand up with Dricus?’ just knowing that you try and wrestle, if you don’t get the takedown you’ve got to worry about your gas tank, because he believes in Chimaev’s boxing, and knowing that he’s not gonna tire as much if he boxes, so I see what he’s saying there,” Volk said.
The current featherweight champion went on to provide his shock pick for the fight, backing the underdog to walk out of Chicago with the title.
“I’m going with the underdog (Du Plessis), incredible fight this one is going to be, I’m interested to see,” Volkanovski continued.