This former UFC champion thinks everything will be going to plan for one UFC 319 headliner, until…
Saturday’s pay-per-view main event will see one of the year’s most highly anticipated title fights finally go down, as Khamzat Chimaev challenges Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title.
Both men have remained undefeated in the UFC to date but it was the South African who made his way to gold first. And since doing so, Du Plessis has pushed past Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland to stay on the throne.
In Chimaev, though, many are expecting ‘Stillknocks’ to face his tallest hurdle to date. The champion does still have an ex-middleweight king backing him, but they think adversity will await Du Plessis before the good times come late in the fight.
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Michael Bisping sees Dricus du Plessis mounting a comeback to beat Khamzat Chimaev
Michael Bisping knows what it takes to win the UFC middleweight title, and to pull off an upset in a championship main event. And ‘The Count’ is tipping Du Plessis to get the better of the betting favorite on August 16.
The former champ does not expect it to come easily for the South African, however. In fact, the Englishman thinks Du Plessis may well find himself two rounds down on the scorecards.
But like many who remain unconvinced about Chimaev’s ability to go five rounds, Bisping thinks ‘Borz’ will fade, paving the way for a huge comeback and perhaps even a late finish for Du Plessis.
“(Chimaev’s) probably going to dominate the first round,” Bisping said. “I think that Dricus weathers the storm in the first round…and he’ll probably end up losing the second round as well.
“I think Dricus du Plessis starts to take over, has some success in the third round, starts to land, starts to grow in confidence.
“We haven’t seen Khamzat Chimaev pushed to the limit over five rounds,” Bisping continued. “We’ve seen Dricus in the fourth round, in the fifth round…the man’s always trying to finish the fight, even in the late rounds.
“Dricus du Plessis will still be the middleweight champion of the world. (It) wouldn’t surprise me if he got a late stoppage in the fourth or fifth round.”
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Dricus du Plessis wants ‘full speed’ Khamzat Chimaev challenge at UFC 319
Not many have survived Chimaev’s fast starts in the UFC. A former opponent of Du Plessis’ was among those who failed to just last October, when Chimaev brutally submitted Robert Whittaker inside the very first round at UFC 308.
The champ, however, is not fazed by what has come before. And rather than looking to simply survive the opening rounds, Du Plessis plans to be the hunter and has challenged Chimaev to go “full speed” from the very first second.
“I’m going out there to fight the way (I fight) and see what happens,” Du Plessis said during UFC 319 media day.
“He didn’t change his game plan with Robert Whittaker because it was a five-rounder. That kind of already gives me the sense that he’s not gonna think about the five rounds when he should be.
“Five rounds is a long time, and I am not scared to get into that dark place,” Du Plessis continued. “We’ve seen that. If we go full speed, you know, I can fight tired all day. I’ve done that many times.
“So, let’s go for it. Let’s go from the first bell to the last. Let’s go full speed and see who quits.”