Former UFC star wonders if Khamzat Chimaev gets fraud checked by Dricus du Plessis

A former UFC and Strikeforce standout wonders if Khamzat Chimaev has been given too much credit.

Chimaev is scheduled to challenge Dricus du Plessis for the UFC Middleweight Championship on Aug. 16. The title fight is set to take place inside the United Center in Chicago. There is plenty of buzz surrounding the matchup, as both men have demonstrated high-level skills inside the Octagon.

One retired fighter who has been in bouts with some of the best of his era is questioning whether or not Chimaev will be fraud checked.

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Too Much Credit for Chimaev?

During the latest episode of We Want Picks’ “Bad Takes,” Josh Thomson admitted he feels the jury is still out on Khamzat Chimaev. He wonders if Chimaev will prove himself to be the elite middleweight he says he is or if Dricus du Plessis will bring him down a peg (via MMAMania).

“How bad is he … or is he good? We’re gonna find out when he fights DDP,” Thomson said on We Want Picks. “I’ve said this for the longest time, the sample size is not big enough for me with Chimaev. It’s just not big enough. Are we giving him too much credit? Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, he’s Muslim, he’s got the beard, he can wrestle.’ Are we giving him the Khabib credit? No one is like Khabib [Nurmagomedov], nobody is like Islam [Makhachev]. We associate the two things, they are not the same. Khabib didn’t get tired. Is [Chimaev] as good as we think? Or we getting a fraud check here with DDP?”

Some were convinced that Chimaev is a future UFC champion when he submitted ex-titleholder Robert Whittaker in the first round at UFC 308. Others feel that du Plessis’ durability will be too much for Chimaev if the fight gets into deep waters.

As it stands now, the oddsmakers believe that Chimaev will dethrone “Stillknocks” to become the UFC Middleweight Champion before the summer is out.