Who’s next for Khamzat Chimaev after beating Dricus Du Plessis?
MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn plays matchmaker and looks ahead to what makes sense for Khamzat Chimaev in this edition of “Sean Shelby’s Shoes.”
Robert Whittaker sees a former foe potentially giving Khamzat Chimaev problems after UFC 319.
Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) dominated Dricus Du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) over the course of 25 minutes to claim the middleweight title in Saturday’s main event at United Center in Chicago.
Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) initially said Chimaev will have to finish Du Plessis in order to win. Not only did Chimaev go the distance, but he landed 12 takedowns and over 21 minutes of control time in a heavy grapple approach – which surprised the former champion.
“Everyone knew the first round was going to look like that,” Whittaker said on his MMArcade Podcast. “Not the finer details such as the crucifix and him just laying 400 punches on his dome, but we knew he would get him down and hold him down. What we didn’t expect was Chimaev’s ability to do that for 25 minutes. That was mind blowing.”
Whittaker, who was quickly submitted by Chimaev at UFC 308, went on to lose his second-straight fight to Reinier de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) last month in the UFC on ABC 9 headliner. De Ridder was able to survive a Round 3 knockdown to outlast Whittaker.
Whittaker was asked who he sees posing the biggest threat to Chimaev after UFC 319.
“De Ridder,” Whittaker responded. “I think de Ridder’s got a good shot because I think the person that has given Chimaev the closest fight, in my opinion, has been when he fought Gilbert Burns. That was because Chimaev was respectful and cautious of Gilbert’s jiu-jitsu game and De Ridder’s a ground player.
“He’s a tall, bottom player jiu-jitsu guy. Then if he does respect his ground, like he did in the Burns fight and it becomes a bit of a slugfest, I think de Ridder’s really unconventional. He’s got some annoying attacks and shots that might give Chimaev some grief.”
