The United Center in Chicago hosts the Aug. 16 UFC 319 fight card headlined by a middleweight title bout between champion Dricus du Plessis (23-2) and the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev (14-0).
The fight will be the South African champion’s third title defense and Chimaev’s first championship bout. No. 6 ranked middleweight contender Caio Borralho broke down the middleweight title fight matchup during an appearance on Submission Radio.
“Right now, it’s hard to pick against DDP because he always shuts my mouth. I always bet against him and he always shuts my mouth. It’s hard to bet against him, but it’s hard to bet against Khamzat,” Borralho said.
For Borralho, the fight comes down to how well the champion has prepared for Chimaev’s specific fighting style. He also believes the longer the fight goes the more the advantage tilts toward Du Plessis.
“It’s just going to be how prepared to Khamzat’s style. It’s not a wrestling style. It’s a different thing. That’s the mistake people make a lot who prepare to fight against a wrestler,” Borralho said. “It’s not pure wrestling. He has a system. He does something different. He puts jiu-jitsu on the wrestling. He needs to be well prepared. Not against the wrestling but against Khamzat’s style.”
If the champion hasn’t honed in on Chimaev’s tendencies, Borralho believes it could be a short night for Du Plessis.
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“I don’t know if he’s going to be ready for that. I feel that this fight can be as fast as the [Robert] Whittaker fight. I think this fight can be really, really fast. But I can see this fight going to the second, the third round and then I see some advantage for Dricus,” he said.
“If Dricus can take one and a half, two rounds, maybe Khamzat will be fatigued,” Borralho continued. “Then the fight is going to get better for Dricus.”
