Sean Strickland is set to face reigning middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 on May 10 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Their mutual former opponent, Dricus du Plessis, believes ‘Tarzan’ has all the tools needed to pull off an upset against Chimaev.
Du Plessis holds two wins over Strickland. While their first fight at UFC 297 ended in a controversial split decision in the South African’s favor, ‘Stillknocks’ earned a definitive unanimous decision the second time around at UFC 312.
However, Chimaev dominated du Plessis when they met at UFC 319. The Chechen-born Emirati employed a grappling-heavy approach that saw ‘Stillknocks’ spend most of the fight on the canvas.
Nevertheless, du Plessis envisions Strickland efficiently dealing with the former Swedish freestyle wrestling champion’s grappling pressure. During a recent appearance on SA Boxing Talk, he said:
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
“I faced Strickland. In the striking, he definitely beats Khamzat for sure. Khamzat is a problem to deal with when he has you on your back. We’ve seen that many times. With Strickland, what he does brilliantly… I took Strickland down, I think, seven times. The way he gets up, to hold him down, is incredibly hard.”
Du Plessis added:
“At Xtreme Couture, where they train, they specialize in that cage wrestling, getting back to his feet, and Strickland is way stronger than people might think. I think he has a very good chance in that fight.”
Check out Dricus du Plessis’ comments about Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland below:
Dricus du Plessis ally accuses Khamzat Chimaev of cowardly game plan
Dricus du Plessis’ teammate and undefeated boxer SD Pypers is convinced that Khamzat Chimaev and his team implemented a cowardly plan at UFC 319.
During the aforementioned interview, when the host asked Pypers how he envisions a rematch between ‘Stillknocks’ and Chimaev playing out, the knockout sensation said:
“I think he knows what exactly happened that night, and I can never count my boy out. The second time around will be a way different result. Twenty-five minutes is not a lot of time to adapt that quickly on the fly.”
Pypers then slammed Chimaev and his team, saying:
“They came in with a good game plan. I think it was a pretty cowardly game plan, if I’m being honest. I would love to see a second fight because it would close a lot of mouths.” [17:21 mark of the interview]
Edited by Ujwal Jain
