UFC 319 backup fighter "suspicious" about Dricus du Plessis or Khamzat Chimaev having potential fight-canceling health issues

Dricus du Plessis is set to face Khamzat Chimaev in a middleweight title fight at UFC 319 this weekend. Ahead of their highly anticipated showdown, Caio Borralho claimed that his services as the official backup fighter may be required, as he suspects one of the headliners is carrying a potential fight-ending injury.

While Borralho is booked to face Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Paris next month, he agreed to weigh in as the official backup fighter for the UFC 319 event. Given Chimaev's history of pulling out of fights due to health issues and overtraining, Borralho believes the promotion is being cautious of a last-minute withdrawal.

In an interview with MMA Fighting, the Brazilian outlined his suspicions about the du Plessis vs. Chimaev headliner and said:

"They didn’t say who could get hurt, if it’s Khamzat or Dricus, or what the issue was. I’m suspicious because they said earlier there would be no backup, and out of nowhere, got one. There’s something going on potentially, but I don’t know what that is."

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He continued:

"If we go by the logic, Chimaev has the better chance of pulling out because he’s done that a few times before. We know he trains like crazy, so he always gets hurt... I don’t know how Dricus is doing. He hasn’t posted much on social media... The thing that concerns me about Chimaev is regarding his weight. I saw a picture, and he looks freaking huge, man. We know he sometimes has a hard time making weight." [H/t: MMA Fighting]

Dricus du Plessis points out why Khamzat Chimaev's previous opponents couldn't beat him

Dricus du Plessis recently shared his thoughts on Khamzat Chimaev's perceived invincibility and blamed Chechen-born grappling savant's previous opponents for not imposing their game plan on him.

At a UFC 319 media scrum (via @MMAFighting on X), du Plessis questioned why Chimaev's previous opponents waited for his takedowns and said:

"Yeah, I think at the end of the day, you can go out there and a lot of guys have made this mistake fighting him, going in and saying, 'I need to watch out for that. He's going to shoot. I need to be ready. I have to watch out.' And then they don't do anything until he does shoot and gets them down anyway. You have to go out there and fight, man. Didn't you train?"

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Edited by Nishant Zende.