Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Dricus Du Plessis Vs. Khamzat Chimaev Preview

Originally posted on BoxingNews.com | Last updated Aug 11, 2025 2:44 AM ET

Dricus Du Plessis puts his UFC Middleweight Title on the line against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 on August 16, as we preview this upcoming fight.

Du Plessis has racked up 11 consecutive wins, one of which was a victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 297 to claim the belt. Two title defenses followed, with wins over Israel Adesanya (UFC 305) and in the Strickland rematch (UFC 312). There has been speculation that Du Plessis could move up to light heavyweight or heavyweight, but he must get past Chimaev first. Chimaev has just had two UFC bouts since 2023 due to inactivity and injuries. Those were wins over Kamaru Usman and Robert Whittaker in his last bout, as he submitted the ex-middleweight champion in the first round, breaking his jaw in the process.

Preview

“Khamzat doesn’t know what it is when people wanna wrestle him. He’s only facing guys who are trying to get away from him, from his wrestling. We don’t want to try and get away from his wrestling, we want to f–k him up in these games.

“You can’t think that you’re gonna beat my guy with one thing, and that’s wrestling. That guy’s one dimensional. We’ve seen his stand-up. I wouldn’t even give him a pro license for his s–t stand-up. He doesn’t present any problem for us. We are the problem,” Morne Visser (Du Plessis’ coach) said

“People say Dricus has good cardio, and people watch me ‘Khamzat has bad this, he’s hype’. How many years I’ve been UFC? Still, people say ‘he’s hype’… [Robert] fought Dricus how many minutes. Dricus been taken down from Robert. Robert didn’t get me even one punch. Everyone I fought they say ‘I’m preparing for a war.’ Why should you prepare for a war, if you want to win you have to prepare for kill,” Chimaev stated