Not everybody is buying into the hype of Khamzat Chimaev.
The 14-0 Khamzat Chimaev has the potential to join Khabib Nurmagomedov and Ilia Topuria as an undefeated world champion when he battles middleweight king Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319.
The middleweight title bout goes down this Saturday from Chicago, Illinois, in what Dana White has called the ‘fight of the year’.
It’s been a long time coming for Chimaev, who fights about once a year. The highly-touted wrestler has wins over former champions Robert Whittaker, Kamaru Usman (on short notice), and former title challenger Gilbert Burns.
Despite what he’s shown in the Octagon, one of the greatest welterweights of all time has a hard time believing Chimaev dethrones du Plessis.
Tyron Woodley picks Dricus du Plessis over Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319
Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley doesn’t think Chimaev is all that great, at least, not yet.
This is Chimaev’s first title fight. At 31 years old, the undefeated star has never seen the championship rounds before and he has only seen a third round twice.
Woodley is picking the more experienced du Plessis to retain the title against Chimaev, which would be his third title defense after defeating Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.
“Khamzat is good, but he’s not great,” Woodley told Action Network.
“He could be, and likely will be, but he’s not great right now.
“DDP has to be a spoiler, stay focused. He’s shown up in fights and beaten people like Stylebender [Israel Adesanya]. He’s kind of like the underdog, the people’s champion. He doesn’t talk much trash but he wins a lot of fights. I think he could win this fight,” Woodley said of du Plessis.
“I’mma go DDP just because I hate when they try to force-feed a star, I hate when they try to groom somebody into something…
“You let them fight. Let them sort out what they’re gonna do. And I feel like there’s been a lot of grooming of him, and there’s been a lot of talk, and a lot of hype,” Woodley said of Chimaev.
“I give him his credit, but I’mma just play the wild card. I’m gonna go with DDP.”
UFC star’s different picks for Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev
Stylistically, du Plessis vs. Chimaev is one of the most interesting fights we’ve seen in recent memory.
The challenger Chimaev is currently the betting favorite over the champion du Plessis, who’s as unorthodox and well-rounded as they come.
Former DDP foe Darren Till and Chimaev’s toughest opponent Kamaru Usman are backing Chimaev to win the title in the UFC 319 headliner.
Gilbert Burns, another fighter who gave Chimaev a run for his money, and former middleweight champion Sean Strickland have predicted du Plessis to defeat Chimaev. So has Chris Weidman.
We’ll see who ends up being right on Saturday night.