Reinier de Ridder sees Dricus Du Plessis finishing Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319
Reinier de Ridder doesn't see Khamzat Chimaev lasting against UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) defends his title against Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) on Aug. 16 in the UFC 319 main event at United Center in Chicago (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
De Ridder (20-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) doubled down on his prediction of Du Plessis beating Chimaev. But not only does the rising middleweight see Du Plessis getting his hand raised, he sees him overwhelming Chimaev and stopping him.
"I think Dricus will win, yeah," De Ridder told MMA Junkie. "I don't think Khamzat is going to get him out of there early, and Dricus is a motherf*cker. He keeps going, and he gets better every round. I see Dricus like finishing him in the late rounds. Like fourth round, fifth round maybe with a lot of volume. I see Khamzat maybe taking him down in the first, second round, getting to his back maybe. I don't know, I think Dricus has a good shot."
De Ridder could find himself in title contention if he can get past former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) in the UFC on ABC 9 main event on July 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
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