Only a few UFC hunters survived Khamzat Chimaev.
The undefeated wonder child from Chechenia finally arrives in a title fight while this weekend in Chicago UFC Middenweight Champion Dric Du Plessis takes on the UFC 319 main event.
With a 25-field winstreak between them, Du Plessis is vs. Chimaev the greatest fight of the year.
The UFC world is divided on who will win the stylistic matchup. Sean Strickland and Gilbert Branden Du Plessis back to keep the title, while the former DDP enemy and Chimaev teammate Darren until Chimaev comes at the top.
A former champion who gave Chimaev his 'most difficult' fight has also made his choice for the UFC 319 Headliner.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Kamaru Usman thinks Khamzat will finish Chimaev Dricus du Plessis
Once the pound-for-pound king of the UFC, Kamaru Usman Chimaev gave a run for his money in a short-term fight in the middleweight in 2023.
Usman was only taken down once before he was confronted with Chimaev on UFC 294. The former champion was almost submitted in the first round, but after survival, Usman found some success against Chimaev in rounds 2 and 3.
As one of the two hunters who go the distance with Chimaev, Usman believes that 'Borz' has lifted his hand against Du Plessis this weekend.
“Don't forget that DDP has not really fought a wrestler since Derek Brunson,” Usman said on the Poundcast of Pound 4 Pound.
“You saw what that fight looked like. Derek gassed and DDP does what he does best. DDP will not give up. That is what we like about him. He will not give up. DDP will continue to try it.”
Du Plessis defeated Derek Brunson through the second round of TKO on UFC 285.
“If DDP continues to try and whether Khamzat Chimaev has not done his work with that cardio, I will definitely see DDP turning it around. But for me this is a very, very difficult …
“I think Khamzat Chimaev might really go outside and get it done,” Used Usman.
“If you look at the landscape of where we are now, it is almost the same that we get a turn, we get a new generation of boys who come out and just become the superstars of the game.
“You are talking about Conor McGregor from nowhere, the superstars of the game. You are talking about Alexander Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya. You are talking about Ilia Topuria. Look at the landscape. We have Tom Aspinall and you have potentially Khamzat Chimaev,” Usman added.
Dricus Du Plessis looks back on Derek Brunson Fight
At UFC 319 Media Day, Du Plessis was asked what had changed between his fight with Derek Brunson in 2023 and now.
Brunson fought a decent first round against Du Plessis and released it for two minutes and 30 seconds from control time.
Brunson later tired in the second round and threw his corner in the towel just before the bell sounded.
“It can't get really worse than he throws in a towel,” said Du Plessis about Brunson's fight (via MMA Fighting).
Dricus Du Plessis has a message for anyone who uses his fight against Derek Brunson as a blueprint for beating him on #UFC319
“It can't get worse than he throws in the towel. Take your first round. I take your towel.” pic.twitter.com/zuou22iepd
– MMA Fighting (@mmafighting) August 13, 2025
View tweet
“Take your first round. Cool. I take your towel,” the champion added.