Dricus Du Plessis Mocks Khamzat Chimaev After Backup Fighter Announcement

Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev

Dricus du Plessis is scheduled to fight Khamzat Chimaev in UFC 319. While the upcoming fight in August is much hyped, Du Plessis had an interesting thought to share. As the backup fighter to the bout was announced recently, the champion took a sly dig at ‘Borz’. The South African fighter stated that given the past history of Chimaev, he might be fighting Nassourdine Imavov.

In a recent announcement, the UFC notified that the backup fighter for the UFC 319 main event will be Nassourdine Imavov. Having gotten the better of Israel Adesanya, Imavov looks to be instantly rewarded. And as per Du Plessis, Imavov might as well get his first shot at the title in August itself!

“Guess I’m fighting Nassourdine Imavov,” wrote Du Plessis, mocking Chimaev.

Now then, the dig was directed towards Khamzat Chimaev’s past history of withdrawing from fights. Back in August 2024, Chimaev was supposed to lock horns with Robert Whittaker in UFC Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, citing an illness, the Chechnyan native had to pull out of the bout. Meanwhile, reflecting on the possible outcome, Renier De Ridder recently chimed in with his take.

Renier De Ridder Reflects On How The Khamzat Chimaev vs. Dricus Du Plessis Fight Would Pan Out

Russia’s Khamzat Chimaev looks on during his Middleweight bout with Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 294 (UFC) event at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 21, 2023

Renier De Ridder is a person who has trained with both Chimaev and Du Plessis. And having watched them closely, De Ridder recently put down his thoughts on the ‘MMAFightingonSBN.’ De Ridder opined that Chimaev would come hard at Du Plessis right from the word go. On the contrary, he also stated that Du Plessis is a sound fighter and thus, it won’t be easy to take him down.

“I’ve trained with both of them, and I’d say, especially in a five-round fight, Khamzat’s most likely gonna come out guns blazing again, shoot right away. But Dricus is not that easy to take down. He moves very well, although it looks a bit funny sometimes. His footwork is not that bad, he gets out, he circles pretty well,” De Ridder said.

Thus, with the verbal heating up, it remains to be seen how things pan out come August 319.