I think most people are very flip flop on who their pick is right? One week I’m posting about DDP taking his 0 but now I’m here talking about how Khamzat Chimaev is being overlooked in a way. Anytime Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t 🍇 his opponent in the 1st (Gilby and Usman) its been a fight of the night and with a bigger and better guy in Dricus Du Plessis I see this fight being extremely close and super entertaining. Both guys can grapple but Chimaev has a clear edge with the takedowns being arguably the best in the UFC as the pr*ck can just shoot from anywhere likr he’s prime Valkan Walker and somehow still get his opponents to the ground I mean he shot on Rob from miles out and still got it. 1st round Chimaev is obviously at his most dangerous I’m not disputing that by any means and if he wins by finish its probably gonna come earlier rather than later. However untrue to what many seem to believe Chimaev can win this fight outside of an early doors submission. He has legit KO power and can definitely get a decision win here. Yes his cardio isn’t incredible but if he actually does a tad more pacing he can definitely hang with DDP for 5 rounds and win rounds off of him. And while Dricus has decent cardio lets not pretend its incredible either, while it looked great in his last fight against Sean Strickland, Sean was a literal speed bag for most of that fight. I am very interested to see how he handles actually having someone offensively wrestle him as he hasn’t had much of that since his nose surgery (Anyone using fights (Brunson) before Dricus’s nose surgery to imply he has bad cardio is a moron) I think round 5 both of them will look absolutely exhausted and be fighting on pure heart with the scorecards in all likely hood being 2-2. I honestly think this fight is gonna be a super close decision win for whom ever takes that belt home. I mean the last time a male champion was finished was April 2024 and Dricus hasn’t ever even lost in the UFC. Now of course Dricus could be restarted and shoot a takedown and get Anaconda’d out cold in the first minute of the fight. Thats the beauty of a Dricus Du Plessis fight he also could guillotine Chimaev out cold in the first you just never know, this is an extremely hard fight to predict but for me I reckon both guys are gonna be very difficult to finish and I see the winner winning a decision. I don’t see a world where this fight is a domination from either side if it leaves round 1. Round 1 Chimaev dominates Round 2 Du Plessis pieces Chimaev up Round 3 Chimaev second win mixes it up really well and takes a close 3rd round Round 4 Du Plessis starts to time his sprawls well and tune Chimaev up but both men tiring. Round 5 exhausted slug fest Chimaev secures the round with a late takedown. Very specific prediction yes but if I’m right then I can look like a genius. On the feet DDP has a clear edge but it’ll be harder for him to get his kicks going due to the takedown threat, on the feet he can definitely box the ears off of Chimaev in theory. I do give DDP the edge in cardio but I don’t think its a big enough edge for me to go with the “Dricus by late TKO” narrative the same way many said Robert Whittaker was gonna win by late TKO against Chimaev. Granted DDP has a whole lot more finishing threat than Whittaker but I still don’t see it happening. Another thing is Chimaev’s new coaches are really f*cking good and definitely will give him a decent game plan to manage the cardio. Whether he sticks to it is another thing of course like… Chin wise I don’t see either getting flatlined but “people forget man” Chimaev has some 1 shot KO power especially in that 1st round just ask Ikram Aliskerov because holy f*ck he can hit you hard. DDP has only been knocked out once ages ago and in theory UFC his chin has looked very solid I doubt he gets knocked out on the feet. As for Chimaev he as only ever been in trouble strikes wise from my glorious king Gilbert “Durinho” Burns who hits like a f*cking truck and that was 100% the best Gilbert we have ever seen and Chimaev still beat him (arguably 🥲) If pretty much anyone else got hit by half the shots Gilbert landed in that fight they would have been out cold so I can digest that Chimaev has a goat chin especially now at middleweight. My pick is 48-47 Chimaev in an absolute fight of the year scrap with both men looking like the 2 best middleweights in the world.