Sportsbooks have already chosen a favorite for Dricus Du
Plessis’ upcoming title defense against Khamzat
Chimaev.
Du Plessis (23-2) puts his middleweight belt on the line against
Chimaev (14-0) in the main event at
UFC 319 on Aug. 16 at the United Center in Chicago. Chimaev has
opened as a moderate -190 favorite against the champ, who stands at
+150 on the comeback. The odds are a reflection of how Chimaev is
perceived, as he gets a title shot just two fights after
permanently moving up to middleweight.
Those two wins went a long way in determining the top contender
status for the man born in Chechnya. While he had shifted up and
down in weight, he made things official in the 185-pound division
by taking on an inflated ex-welterweight champ Kamaru
Usman. Outworking “The Nigerian Nightmare” for the good part of
three rounds, he went on to crush the jaw of Robert
Whittaker with a face crank to cement his status as an elite
185er. “Borz” has finished six of his eight UFC wins so far, laying
waste the likes of Gerald
Meerschaert, Kevin
Holland and Jingliang
Li.
Meanwhile, Du Plessis is unbeaten since 2019, riding an 11-fight
winning streak which includes nine UFC outings. “Stillknocks”
claimed the title with a close split decision against Sean
Strickland last year and defended it by becoming the first
combatant to ever submit Israel
Adesanya in professional MMA competition. The South African
then put any concerns about his title reign to bed by beating
Strickland in their rematch conclusively with two scores of 50-45
in his favor this February.