Eric Albarracin, coach of Paulo Costa and Henry Cejudo, shared his thoughts on the upcoming fight between Khamzat Chimaev and UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis in an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net.
“We were preparing for the Paulo Costa vs. Chimaev fight in Abu Dhabi, and we studied Khamzat. Chimaev has only had a few fights in the middleweight division. Du Plessis has shown that he improves with each round. His fight against Chimaev is another fight that piques my interest. I believe Khamzat will win in the first two rounds, but as the fight progresses into the later rounds, I think I will favor Du Plessis. Dricus has shown that he doesn’t get tired and keeps improving throughout the fight. Kamaru Usman had one of his best fights with Khamzat, despite only having a week to prepare,” Albarracin commented.
The fight against Du Plessis will be tough for Chimaev. This is a big step up, a challenge that people have been calling for a long time. Since he grabbed the microphone and said, ‘I’m going to kill everyone.’ Well, now we’ll see if he can beat Dricus Du Plessis. I want to see that. I have trained with Russians, and you know, I see how they train. They do everything right: eat right, sleep, pray five times a day, and dedicate themselves to God. And, you know, Khamzat seems to be the same way. The secret of these Russians is that they actually don’t have many distractions.
Chimaev and Du Plessis will face off on August 17 at UFC 319 in Chicago, USA. Du Plessis boasts 22 wins and two losses, while Chimaev remains undefeated with 14 wins in his career.
