Dricus du Plessis‘s confidence seems to be as high as it can be when it comes to his upcoming title defense against Khamzat Chimaev. The middleweight champion claims that he’s planning to nullify the Chechen-born star’s biggest weapon in his arsenal, his wrestling. And guess what? Du Plessis has been challenging himself in the gym in his preparation to take on ‘Borz’, with his coaching putting a price on his head.

The South African star recently revealed that his coach has been going above and beyond in the training session. After a hard day of training, his coach, Morne Visser, lined up his training partners, claiming that there would be a $10K reward for anyone who managed to take down the middleweight champion. Dricus du Plessis was pretty serious about saying, “You think it’s a joke, but coach doesn’t joke about these things,” in that regard.

However, UFC legend Daniel Cormier claims that things may not be as easy as Dricus du Plessis imagines. Despite training to avoid getting taken down, ‘Stillknocks’ could be facing a much better version of Khamzat Chimaev, as Daniel Cormier revealed some details about ‘Borz’s training camp. The former double champion claims that Chimaev has aligned himself with a coach who’s known for having experience in applied mathematics and is also a former aerospace engineer.

The coach in question is Sam Calavitta, who has trained the likes of former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw when he was at the top of his game in the 2010s. Calavitta is known for his use of a data-driven approach in athletics, which led Daniel Cormier to claim that Khamzat Chimaev is working with him to get better at the cardio aspect of the game since that appears to be his biggest issue.

“Most people feel that if Chimaev is to struggle, it’s because he’ll get tired. Hey, Chimaev has been out in LA for a while, training with Coach Cal,” Daniel Cormier told Chael Sonnen on their ESPN show on YouTube. “You know, Coach Cal knows how to get dudes in shape. He gets Penn State in shape… TJ Dillashaw, when he was at his peak, was training with Coach Cal. Coach Cal knows how to get these guys ready. So he will have Chimaev more ready than we’ve ever seen Chimaev in his UFC career.”

Khamzat Chimaev will score a first-round win vs Dricus du Plessis, claims Caio Borralho

There are many fighters who are looking forward to watching Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis fight, as Caio Borralho shared his prediction recently. The Fighting Nerds leader did not take anything away from ‘Stillknocks’, who has proven time and time again that he’s the real deal. However, Borralho believes that preparing for Chimaev is always tricky, and hence, he leaned more towards a win for the Chechen-born just like he defeated Robert Whittaker.

“I think it could be as fast as the Whittaker fight. Because people don’t prepare well to fight Khamzat. They think it’s just about training against wrestlers. It’s not about that,” Caio Borralho told ‘MMA Crazy’. “So let’s see what kind of preparation Dricus is going to do for this fight. But every time that I bet against Dricus, he shuts my mouth. (But) I think it can be as fast as the Whittaker fight.”

Don’t forget about du Plessis’ personal background. He’s not just going along with the hype. He has beaten Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya, and both times he won “Performance of the Night.” His championship canvas is solid, and the clash of credentials, Chimaev’s wrestling skills against du Plessis’ submission skills, makes this fight even more important.

Well, it seems like there are quite a few Khamzat Chimaev supporters who’ve backed him to defeat Dricus du Plessis. But after beating three former champions, the South African star is unfazed about the threats, which have made the fans only more eager to see them lock horns sooner rather than later. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.