Din Thomas thinks Khamzat Chimaev would struggle against UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) retained his middleweight title by defeating Sean Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) a second time in this past Saturday’s UFC 312 main event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
Du Plessis wants Chimaev next, and has opened up as a betting underdog in a potential matchup against the undefeated phenom. Although Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) has torn through most competition so far, Thomas points to his two decision wins over Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman as a cause for concern.
“I think Khamzat is a sprinter,” Thomas said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “If you were to make fights one five-minute round, Khamzat beats anybody in the world, any weight class. But you can’t fight championship-level fights for five rounds at the pace where he’s at his best. If he fights like that at his best, I think Dricus is so durable and he’s so smart that he’ll be able to withstand that. Now they’re swimming in deep water, and Khamzat can’t swim that deep.”
Thomas sees Du Plessis weathering Chimaev’s early storm, and dragging him to the championship rounds – where Chimaev has never been tested.
“I think that by the third round, Khamzat is like, ‘All right, I don’t really know. This guy is not going away.’ Let’s say he does pace himself a little better. Dricus will just pour it on him. So I think that pacing is a big factor. We always talk about this cardio thing, but cardio is really just being able to manage whatever pace you have based on the skill set you have. That’s really what it comes down to.
“Like, if you have a very limited skill set and you’re forced to be in situations that you’re not comfortable in, you’re going to have bad cardio. But when you have a very well-rounded skill set, and you can pace yourself better, you’re going to have good cardio. That’s really what it comes down to.”
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UFC champ Dricus Du Plessis: No middleweight can ‘overpower me,’ not even Khamzat Chimaev
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC analyst questions if Khamzat Chimaev could swim in deep waters vs. Dricus Du Plessis
