Dricus Du Plessis possesses an unorthodox fighting style, but believes this will beat Khamzat Chimaev.
The champion has been backed against in the build-up to the fight, with Tito Ortiz warning of a ‘rude awakening’ despite Du Plessis overcoming the odds in wins over Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya.
Chimaev is known for his danger in the early rounds, with five of his six finishes occurring in the opening round.
But ‘Stillknocks’ is not worried about the early successes of Khamzat; instead, he believes he can drag him into the type of fight that suits him.
Dricus Du Plessis promises to give Khamzat Chimaev a ‘taste of his own medicine’ at UFC 319
Speaking to Chicago Sports Network, he described the style of his opponent as similar to his own, comparing it closely to the ‘aggressive British’ method of MMA.
Asked how he would beat him, he sent a big warning to the UFC title challenger on exactly how he’d do it.
He said: “Fight him at his own game. You want to be the bully on the yard? Come try this out.
“You get the guys that fight him because he has this name, he has this aura, he is unbeaten, and people fight him in a defensive way, and I don’t think that is the way you fight him.
“I think you have to face him head-on, go for it, and give him some of his own medicine.”
It is a difficult task for the titleholder to tackle, especially when you look at performances against the likes of Robert Whittaker, whom he demolished in the first round.
Dricus Du Plessis will move up in weight, but believes he has to do one thing first
Whatever the result of the August 16th contest is, it will reveal the next steps of the current middleweight champion.
He walks around at 230 lbs, which means he has to perform a 55 lb weight cut to ensure he makes the title limit, but he can only do the brutal cut for so long.
An ambition to move up has always been there for the South African, but he believes there is one thing he needs to do before he can make the jump up to light heavyweight.
On a move to the 205 division, he said: “That’s been the long-term goal, to move up, I’m still young in my career.
“I’m a firm believer in three title defences before you move up, and then of course the division needs to be cleaned out before you move onto the next division.”
After a fight against the next-ranked top contender, there is a potential that we could see a run at the light heavyweight title late next year, which could send him even higher in the pound-for-pound rankings.