One fighter familiar with both Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev expects the former to lose his grip on the UFC middleweight title should their expected fight come to fruition this year.
Having successfully defended his belt against Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland, the reign of Du Plessis could meet its tallest hurdle to date next time out.
“Stillknocks” appears likely to face the challenge of Chimaev, an undefeated phenom who most recently steamrolled Robert Whittaker by way of a teeth-breaking face crank submission last October.
And by the sounds of things, an ex-opponent of the champ’s and occasional training partner of Chimaev’s expects “Borz” to repeat that dominance in his first title fight on MMA’s biggest stage.
During an interview with Genting Casino, Darren Till gave a one-sided prediction for Du Plessis’ potential clash with the Chechen contender.
“I think Chimaev is gonna run over him. I think he’ll just completely run over. That’s what I think,” Till said. “I think he’ll win the title. I think he’s done what he’s done to do that, and I think Chimaev will get out, earn the money, and then I think he’ll live his life happily and peacefully then.”
The top contender didn’t think too highly of Du Plessis’ second championship defense, which came by way of decision in a rematch versus Strickland in Australia last month.
While “Borz” looks to unseat the South African from the middleweight throne, Till is focused on ventures away from the UFC after requesting his release months on from a submission setback to Du Plessis in late 2022.
