Dana White confirmed last weekend that a middleweight title showdown between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev is in the works, and having trained with both in the past, Reinder de Ridder has now given his prediction as to who will win.
“I’ve had some experience with both of the guys. I’ve trained with both of them,” de Ridder said. “I’d say especially in a five round fight, Khamzat is most likely going to 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 at times. His footwork is not that bad. He gets out. He circles pretty well.
“I don’t see Khamzat taking him down right away and to be honest, I don’t see Khamzat choking him out in the first round.
“Every round he doesn’t choke him out is going to get worse for him. Because with that unorthodox style of Dricus and those heavy hands, I think it might be a long night for Khamzat.“
De Ridder, who is 2-0 in the UFC so far and fights Bo Nickal on Saturday night, went on to confirm that he’s picking current champion du Plessis to emerge victorious against Khamzat.
“He keeps going,” de Ridder said of DDP. “That’s the crazy thing. He looks dead tired, the technique [just goes out the door] but somehow he stays strong, stays very explosive. I’m going with Dricus but Khamzat would be cool, too, if it gets it. But I think Dricus has a good chance.”
