Dricus du Plessis‘s team started their mind game ahead of a potential middleweight title fight against Khamzat Chimaev after the champ’s coach made some bold claims, claiming that the South African juggernaut wants to beat him on the “floor.” Even Chael Sonnen, who earlier backed the Russian fighter for ‘every single round,’ against DDP, now believes that the 31-year-old South African may have the advantage.

“If you asked me about that fight two years ago, or a year ago, or even six months ago, I would have quickly dismissed it and told you Chimaev. But I don’t feel that way anymore,” Uncle Chael said. Now, we all know that Chimaev’s ground game is his biggest weapon. However, unfazed by all the speculations, Borz has hit back at Dricus with a perfect reply to Team Dricus for their ‘ground war’ remark.

“It’s not a grappling or wrestling. He needs to fight. That’s where we wanna do,” Dricus du Plessis’s coach Morne Visser recently stated during an interview. They’re surely locked in on Chimaev because the champion’s coach also confirmed that the Chechen-born is definitely next in line for the title shot. Just last week, Dana White also confirmed the fight, but did not confirm any date. “We all know that fight’s happening,” White said at the UFC Kansas City post-fight press conference. “The du Plessis vs. Khamzat fight, it’s happening. It’s just not happening in International Fight Week… That fight’s done.”

While we wait for the UFC to finalize a date, it seems like Visser’s words have traveled all the way to the undefeated star, who also gave us an idea about what his training is like ahead of their potential bout.

After teaming up with Razaambek Zhamalov and Darren Till, Borz is coming for more than just a war. In fact, the Chechnya-born star seems really fired up about the prospect of fighting du Plessis, and ‘Stillknocks’ might want to hear this because Chimaev’s approach to this fight seems vastly different from his past fights, as he sent a chilling warning to the champion. “Let them prep for war. I’m prepping for m–der,” the undefeated fighter told Adam Zubayraev.

Well, this should not come as a surprise since Chimaev made it clear in the past that whenever he steps inside the Octagon, he only wants to “k–l everybody.” Well, if fans want an idea about who comes out on top if ‘Borz’ and du Plessis fought, they can get that from a UFC fighter, who knows the two middleweights really well.

UFC fighter offers analysis of a potential matchup between Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis

Dutchman and former ONE double champion Reinier De Ridder has been on a roll ever since signing with the UFC, as he recently scored a big-time TKO win over highly touted prospect Bo Nickal. Days before his fight at UFC Des Moines, he revealed that he had trained with both Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis, and gave his take on how a fight between them pans out.

De Ridder started by mentioning the pros and cons of their fighting style. While he praised Chimaev’s wrestling, claiming that his “footwork is not that bad,” De Ridder believes that it won’t be easy for Chimaev to go guns blazing like he usually does in the early rounds against Dricus du Plessis. As such, he leaned a bit towards the South African star, especially because of his gas tank and ability to take hits.

“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… He keeps going. That’s the crazy thing. He looks dead tired, the technique [just goes out the door] but somehow he stays strong, stays very explosive,” Reinier de Ridder told ‘MMA Fighting’. “I’m going with Dricus, but Khamzat would be cool, too, if it gets it. But I think Dricus has a good chance.”

Well, we can only see if what Reinier de Ridder has to say turns out to be true after we get an official announcement for this highly anticipated matchup between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev. Till then, let us know what you think in the comments section.