Israel Adesanya sees Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev going the way most others do: Either the challenger steamrolls the champion early, or it could be a long night for the undefeated Chimaev.
Du Plessis and Chimaev headlined UFC 319 this Saturday in Chicago. Adesanya, a former two-time UFC middleweight champion, discussed the bout between his past opponent and rival, and one of the most wildcard fighters the sport has ever seen.
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“I’ve looked at this fight two ways: Khamzat comes out, just grabs a hold of DDP and just drags him into deep water of the first or the second and finishes him, or DDP matches Khamzat’s crazy with his type of crazy, and his willingness to not quit, and then drags Khamzat into deep waters of the third and fourth and fifth rounds and gets him out of there,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “That’s how I see this fight going.”
At UFC 305 a year ago, du Plessis submitted Adesanya in the fourth round to successfully defend his title for the first time. “Stillknocks” went on to win a lopsided decision against Sean Strickland in a rematch at UFC 312 in February, while Chimaev earned his first UFC title shot with a destruction of Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 this past October.
Adesanya doesn’t think Chimaev will change anything up, and will get shot out of a cannon the moment the referee says “fight.”
“He’s going to go after him in the first,” Adesanya said. “So Dricus just has to be very mindful. He felt strong, but I felt strong as well. We matched strength. But he’s just stubborn. He won’t quit. …
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“I just think on the ground, Khamzat will be, offensively, all over him, but Dricus has to defensively sound to not get submitted, or get TKO’d.”
In the end, Adesanya knows it’s a tough fight to call. “The Last Stylebender” is quite confident that the longer the fight goes, the more it favors the champion. The big question: Can du Plessis get through the early chaos?
“DDP, I think, can weather the storm and probably finish Khamzat later on, because Khamzat, if it gets to Round 3, 4, 5, it’s going to be a problem,” Adesanya explained. “It probably won’t get to Round 5. I say Round 3 or 4, DDP.
“But if Khamzat’s going to win, it’s going to be in the first round. It’s going to be impressive, it’s going to be spectacular, it’s going to be violent. But yeah, I’m going to go with DDP.”