Khamzat Chimaev expects his hands to be a problem for Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319

Khamzat Chimaev believes his hands will be the big problem for Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319.

Chimaev is set to headline UFC 319 on Saturday in Chicago against Du Plessis for the middleweight title. Heading into the fight, ‘Borz’ is a -225 favorite on FanDuel to become the new champ, and he has full confidence that he will get his hand raised.

“All the guys he’s fought, none of them were undefeated. He beat Adesanya, who already lost, Sean Strickland, he don’t know how to fight, I don’t know how to lose. Whatever he says, he has to come to the cage and fight. He can say whatever he wants, but he has to deal with my hands,” Chimaev said on UFC Countdown.

Chimaev is known for his wrestling and strength, but he expects his hands and striking to give Du Plessis problems at UFC 319. If Khamzat Chimaev can also outstrike Dricus Du Plessis, it could be a long night for the champ, especially with Chimaev having the wrestling in his back pocket.

Dricus Du Plessis’ coach doesn’t expect Khamzat Chimaev to have success

Although Khamzat Chimaev has full confidence he will be able to beat Dricus Du Plessis, the champ’s coach disagrees.

Instead, Du Plessis’ coach, Morne Visser, believes Khamzat Chimaev will struggle against the champ as he doesn’t think highly of ‘Borz’s’ striking.

“Khamzat doesn’t know what it is when people want to wrestle him,” Visser said on Countdown. “He’s only facing guys who are trying to get away from his wrestling. We don’t want to try to get away from his wrestling, we want to f**k him up in his game…

“You can’t think that you’re gonna beat my guy coming with one thing, and that’s wrestling,” Visser added. “That guy is one-dimensional. Have you seen his standup? I wouldn’t even give him a pro license for his standup. He doesn’t present any problem for us. We’re the problem.”

Khamzat Chimaev is coming off a submission win over Robert Whittaker to earn a title shot.