Arena: United Center.
Chicago, the United States.
17.08.2025 7:00
Khamzat Chimaev vs Dricus du Plessis: Prediction and odds on the Match on 17 August 2025
On the night of 17 August, Chicago will be hosting UFC 319, with Khamzat Chimaev aiming to take the title from Dricus du Plessis in the main event. The five-round fight will be in the middleweight division (Chimaev is ranked third in the UFC rankings for this division, while du Plessis is the reigning champion).
Claim Your Welcome Bonus!Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev burst onto the UFC scene in 2020 and immediately shook up two divisions – welterweight and middleweight. Every one of his fights gets a bonus for entertainment value, and his speeches are dissected for quotes. Even without being a champion, this guy is already one of the brightest stars in the MMA.
No one's quite figured out how to deal with Chimaev's fighting style yet, and for now, it's all just guesswork. Robert Whittaker is a seasoned fighter and very intelligent, so it was surprising to see him lose so badly to Khamzat in the first round of their last fight.
Dricus du Plessis
Drikus du Plessis is a basic kickboxer who's never lost in the UFC and normally wins early. He became champion last year when he beat Sean Strickland by split decision and has already defended his belt twice, most recently in a rematch with Strickland, but this time in dominant style.
The champion's technique and skills make experts smile, but when you look at his track record, that smile disappears – Dricus has the longest active winning streak in the middleweight division (nine wins), and he's finished former champions Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.
The fact that Dricus du Plessis is considered an underdog is crazy. This guy knows how to fight, he has excellent jiu-jitsu, he is big for his weight class and, most importantly, he has cardio. Dricus will go forward like a tank, and Chimaev will rush at him. He won't wait, he'll hit with all his might, lift his opponent and throw him to the ground. He'll be a berserker, and that's why we love him. But if he doesn't finish him in the first or second round and starts to tire in the third, and then in the fourth and fifth he'll be dreaming of being anywhere but in the centre of the octagon, Dricus du Plessis will seize the initiative. And this guy is a healthy and powerful beast who also knows how to finish.
Khamzat Chimaev vs Dricus du Plessis Match Prediction August 17, 2025
Most experts agree on one thing: if Chimaev doesn't beat the champion in the first two rounds, he won't make it any further and Dricus will take control of the fight. He's strong, he's got stamina, and he can finish anyone off. At the same time, it's been said that Kamaru Usman and especially Gilbert Burns were no worse than Khamzat in the third round, and Du Plessis is a fighter who gets better with every round without slowing down, no matter how much he's already missed or how much energy he's used up defending himself on the ground.
But we think all this stuff is good news for the underdog – people were saying the same before the fight between Chimaev and Whittaker. And Khamzat himself knows there are some problems with how he functions. We all know how he prepares and what kind of people are helping him.
Just to flag up, the fight was going to be part of the UFC 317 tournament in June, but du Plessis said he wouldn't be able to take part because of an injury. We don't know how serious it is or how ready the champion will be in August.
We think everything will be as usual, and Khamzat Chimaev won't reinvent the wheel – in the first half of the fight, he'll just knock du Plessis down and finish him off. All the mistakes have already been made (we saw them in the fights that Khamzat won on points), and there's a lot at stake – everything he dreamed of and everything he promised.
Our match prediction: W1 at a coefficient of 1.50 in the Bet365 bookmaker.
Our betting tip on the match: TU (2.5) for a coefficient of 1.65 in the 1xbet bookmaker.
Our final betting tip on the match: W1 for a coefficient of 1.50 in the betway bookmaker.
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