Alleged grappling flaw in Khamzat Chimaev’s game exposed ahead of Dricus du Plessis showdown

Khamzat Chimaev is finally getting his first title shot after pretty much steamrolling most of his middleweight peers. 'Borz' will challenge Dricus du Plessis for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 319 in August.

The biggest question coming into this massive bout is if the champion can manage to stop the seemingly unstoppable grappling that Chimaev will bring to the octagon. The Chechen-born fighter has relied heavily on his wrestling to flatten most of his opponents en route to dominant submission wins.

To veteran MMA social media personality The MMA Guru, Chimaev's wrestling game is not as frightening as it seems. In a podcast episode with MMA legend Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson, The MMA Guru went full analyst mode by pointing out a flaw in Chimaev's game that du Plessis can exploit (1:09:12):

"When you get taken down you can choose how you land sometimes. A lot of people don't understand that in MMA. If you're going to end up on the ground, this is always the thing. I'm going to be able to shuck off the takedowns of Chimaev. No, you have to be at the peace with the fact that you're not going to be able to. But you can decide am I going to land with Chimaev on my back or am I going to land in guard?

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He continued:

"Am I going to land on bottom with full guard? How does Chimaev work from full guard? [Gilbert] Burns put him in guard on bottom position and Chimaev kind of didn't want it. 'Oh, I don't like this. I ain't got my body lock. I ain't able to just drag him around and get the back. Some fighters that are grapplers like Chimaev have a dominant position on nothing."

Listen to him here:

Dricus du Plessis vs Khamzat Chimaev gets official back-up fighter

With Khamzat Chimaev's history of pulling out of fights due to his health issues, it seems the UFC isn't risking anything ahead of UFC 319. The August fight already has a back-up fighter: no.1-ranked Nassourdine Imavov.

Imavov's most recently knocked out former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya back in February to solidify his status as next in line for a shot at the middleweight throne.

UFC on TNT Sports reported on the news on X:

"Nassourdine Imavov is reportedly set to serve as the backup fighter for Dricus du Plessis vs Khamzat Chimaev at #UFC319, per @RMCSportCombat"

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About the author

Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

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Edited by Krishna Venki