Former UFC champion Michael Bisping says that early odds suggesting that Khamzat Chimaev is the bookies’ favourite to defeat Dricus du Plessis in their world title fight in August are off the mark.
It was confirmed this week by UFC boss Dana White that South Africa’s Du Plessis will defend his 185-pound title against Chimaev in the UFC 319 main event in Chicago in mid-August – with the betting line opening in favour of the undefeated Chechen grappler extending his perfect record in his first UFC title bout.
However, Bisping – a former title holder at 185-pounds – disagrees with this assessment.
“The fact that they’ve got Dricus du Plessis as the underdog is insane,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel, as noted by MMA Fighting.
“The man can wrestle, he’s got great jiu-jitsu, he’s big for the weight class, and more importantly, he has a gas tank. He has had no problems going five rounds.”
Chimaev has been near faultless in his UFC run thus far, winning each of his eight contests (14-0 overall) across the welterweight and middleweight divisions. However, in his two fights which have gone to decision – against Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman – he has appeared to wane in the later rounds, particularly against Usman who one of the three judges believed had done enough to win.
“The two times Khamzat went to a decision was when he couldn’t get the finish in the first or second round,” Bisping explained.
“That’s when Gilbert Burns started to take over. That’s when Kamaru Usman had a lot of success and settled the score and it almost came out as a draw. And now it’s not three rounds, it’s five rounds. The way that Khamzat Chimaev fights is the way that he fights. He ain’t going to change. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
And despite the possible risks as he enters what could be a five-round fight, Bisping says he doubts that Chimaev will alter the strategy that he delivered success to this point – even if it leads to risks of emptying his gas tank down the stretch.
“He’s going to go full steam ahead. Khamzat Chimaev is going to go right at him. He ain’t going to f*ck about, he’s going to swing for the fences, he’s going to pick him up, he’s going to try and slam him down. He’s going to go berserk. He’s going to go mental and that’s what we love about him.”
