Eddie Alvarez has not seen bet on Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319, but that doesn’t mean he’s counting Dricus du Plessis.
Duplesis, which emanates from Chicago’s United Center, will face “Boltz” the middleweight world title on August 16th in a match that appears to have split the world of MMA into the middle. On the one hand, there are champions who repeatedly ignored the odds. After that, there is Chimaev. This is an undefeated Chechnya monster with 12 finishes against a total of 14 wins.
It’s everyone’s guess as to who’s on the top, but “The Underground King” finds himself leaning slightly towards Chimehph all the way through.
“I think it’s difficult for me to bet on Chimaev,” Alvarez told Helen Yi. “The guy is a big power, but…Dricus is like this weird character to me. It doesn’t look aesthetically good, but he gets the job done. His conditioning is crazy.
As it stands, Chimaev is a 2-1 favorite leaving Chi Town at 185 pounds, while Duplesis is a weaker at +160.
Of course, it is a familiar place for South Africans, and South Africa opened as a dog on previous outings against Robert Whitaker, Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya.
Chimaev’s title shot against Du Plessis has come for a long time
As for Chimaev, it will be Chechnya’s first UFC title opportunity after big victories with Gilbert Burns, Kamal Usman and Robert Whitaker. In reality, Chimaev’s shot in gold was supposed to come some time ago, but a massively measured gaffe in September 2022 prompted promotion to push “bolus” from welterweight to middleweight.
Since then, he has added three more wins to his resume, landing as the third contender in the middleweight division, recording a highly anticipated showdown with Duplesis.