Media Caio Borralho predicts Khamzat destroys Dricus as easily as he did Whittaker

[MMAFanCal]

Before anyone gets too excited, a disclaimer that Caio has a documented history of always predicting against Dricus. The credibility factor is simply not there. He admittedly always bets against Dricus every single time. Eats his words, but then comes back to insult Dricus more. Last year in 2024 he said 'how amazing Dricus is so bad, but continues to win'. This was before the first Strickland fight. Dricus since then has won 3 more fights, but he continues to claim Dricus will lose his next fight.

Also, Caio was the guy who started the rumor that Dricus pulled out of the Khamzat fight due to injury. Trying to insert himself into title contention against Khamzat. He still claims it was true, but there was zero substantiated evidence to corroborate other than Caio's claims.

Khamzat Chimaev tipped to destroy Dricus du Plessis 'as fast as the Whittaker fight' by top UFC middleweight

Could Khamzat Chimaev repeat his domination from last time out against Dricus du Plessis?

bloodyelbow.com

 

[188912345]

He was also one of very few fighters who predicted Khamzat to make it look easy vs Whittaker.

Soon we will finally find out what will happen, can't wait.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Mystic Cow Bo Hallyo

 

[Dorkman]

Definitely don't agree with him, but as you mention he seems to be very bias against him. It's possible, but I feel like Dricus physically is going to push Khamzat to have to work much harder than he did against either Usman, or Whitakker to get and maintain positions. Dricus is a tank of a man for 185, a savy grappler, and has great endurance and grit. It's going to take more than a face crank to get him out of there, he dosen't got faulty teeth like Rob does. I see Khamzat likely taking the first round, possibly even the second with Dricus spending a lot of time defending. But I just don't see Khamzat being able to maintain it. And by minutes 7-9 of the fight Dricus will have taken over the momentum of the fight. I'd be surprised if Khamzat makes it to round 5. And if he does, i think he'll be sucking wind very badly. But hey, i've been horribly wrong before. So who knows

 

[MMAFanCal]

He was also one of very few fighters who predicted Khamzat to make it look easy vs Whittaker.

Soon we will finally find out what will happen, can't wait.

I predicted that as well. Anyone could see that to be perfectly honest. I knew Khamzat was going to bulldoze Whittaker. He was coming off a great KO win over Ikram, but I was not sold on the whole Ikram win. I knew Whittaker was just too small and simply does not have the strength and wrestling/grappling skills/groundgame to counter the skills combined with the size/strength of Khamzat.

However, the fact that Caio has a pattern of ALWAYS betting against Dricus and whilst being proven wrong every single time, him continues to bash his skills, is truly some serious vendetta rooted in hate.

 

[188912345]

On paper, they both have attributes that could present problems for each other.

They are both very, very good fighters.

One thing that I don't see mentioned here on sherdog is how Dricus will adapt his striking to not make himself too open for takedowns.

It's one thing to blitz, throw high kicks, leaping forwards with shots, etc, against someone who doesn't present a takedown threat, like Strickland or Adesanya.

It's another thing to do it against the best wrestler/grappler in the division, who typically keeps his opponents down once they get there. The speed of Khamzat's takedowns are also freakishly fast for 185.

As great as his endurance is, we have also not seen it tested over multiple rounds of grueling wrestling exchanges, and he looked very tired vs Izzy after getting a takedown attempt stuffed. Of course, he then recovered quickly.

What worries me about Dricus as a fan of Khamzat is his mental toughness and finishing ability, not that he will beat him by decision.

Khamzat has proven that he can take down his opponents even after getting rocked on the feet, or while "gassed" with an injured hand.

As long as Khamzat can get takedowns, he can win rounds, even if they are competitive.

Regarding their relative grappling strength, Khamzat has considerably better top control than Dricus, and seems to be more technical.

I think it will be very draining to try to power himself out of bad positions against someone as technical as Khamzat.

I hope both of them come in to this fight at 100%, let the best man win.

Very possible that we will see them fight each other again in the future, given that they are both young for the top of the division.

 

[Question]

He predicted the Whittaker/Khamzat and Izzy/Strickland pretty well too, but he also trained with those two winners as well
We'll see though, I will say that I also thought Khamzat would beat Whittaker too, however DDP is definitely a harder puzzle to deal with and especially if he can counter or get through the early onslaught of Khamzat(BIG if)

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

One could hope.

 

[SamuraiBro]

Nah, Dricus will Chad his way to victory.

 

[Substance Abuse]

He has trained with Khamzat. Context matters.

 

[wrb]

The thing is, the fans did not make Khamzat a world beater but actual pro fighters who train and wrestle with the guy started the hype. If anything we have no idea how dominant this guy is because his career is now 5 years deep and really weird with stuff like Roberts bad teeth and the weird Nate Diaz fight. His Burns fight might still be the best fight since 2019+ but it should of been a split

 

[prime_lobov]

If DDP survives the first couple rounds, Khamzat is gonna be in trouble. He faded extremely hard against kneeless Usman. DDP with two functioning legs is a problem as the fight goes longer.

 

[188912345]

I predicted that as well. Anyone could see that to be perfectly honest. I knew Khamzat was going to bulldoze Whittaker. He was coming off a great KO win over Ikram, but I was not sold on the whole Ikram win. I knew Whittaker was just too small and simply does not have the strength and wrestling/grappling skills/groundgame to counter the skills combined with the size/strength of Khamzat.

However, the fact that Caio has a pattern of ALWAYS betting against Dricus and whilst being proven wrong every single time, him continues to bash his skills, is truly some serious vendetta rooted in hate.

Close to 65%ish of sherdog couldn't see it, though, according to the poll before their fight. Only 14% had Khamzat by submission.

Whittaker has excellent anti-wrestling/anti-grappling skills, no one could keep him down or put him in bad spots before Dricus judo throw and the Khamzat-fight.

Even vs Khamzat, he did a lot of things well.
Getting the hooks out, getting back to his feet (before he swiftly got ankle picked again), then he succumbed to the pressure.
Maybe he could have survived round 1 with healthy teeth, but it didn't look promising, given the position he was in.

Dricus is one of those fighters who other fighters underestimate, for sure.
He's tough, very skilled, and there's a method to the "madness" of his style.
He's combining everything very well together, especially when he has the takedown threat in his favor.

I was puzzled that he was such a big underdog vs Whittaker, and that so many favored Strickland and Izzy to beat him.

All in all, it should be a great fight, and I will back the winner to keep winning against the new contenders as well.

 

[chinarice]

The thing is, the fans did not make Khamzat a world beater but actual pro fighters who train and wrestle with the guy started the hype. If anything we have no idea how dominant this guy is because his career is now 5 years deep and really weird with stuff like Roberts bad teeth and the weird Nate Diaz fight. His Burns fight might still be the best fight since 2019+ but it should of been a split

What does that even mean, "should have been a split?" To make that comment, one would have to assume you don't understand what the term "split decision" means.....

You're saying, for no particular reason, 1 of the judges should have given Gilbert 2 of the rounds but 2 of the judges for sure were ok with scoring the fight for Khamzat?

 

[agibmxmma]

He's trained with both.. also predicted how Strickland vs Adesanya and Khamzat vs Whittaker, fight outcomes and how the fights would play out (hes trained with Strickland too). All fighters have a bias, just as every human does.. doesn't mean he's not a student of the sport and Martial Arts in general, hence the "Fighting Nerd".

 

[wrb]

What does that even mean, "should have been a split?" To make that comment, one would have to assume you don't understand what the term "split decision" means.....

You're saying, for no particular reason, 1 of the judges should have given Gilbert 2 of the rounds but 2 of the judges for sure were ok with scoring the fight for Khamzat?

That's exactly what I am saying, it was incredibly close.. A split relays the closeness even after people forget about the fight and indicate Neither fighter clearly dominated. Its my fucking favorite fight, I want that "closeness indicator" even if its a shitty system.

 

[baba2008]

What does that even mean, "should have been a split?" To make that comment, one would have to assume you don't understand what the term "split decision" means.....

You're saying, for no particular reason, 1 of the judges should have given Gilbert 2 of the rounds but 2 of the judges for sure were ok with scoring the fight for Khamzat?

But he didn't say "should have been a split" . He said "should of been a split" (whatever the fuck that means). I know I'm being pedantic and we know what this poster meant, but writing 'of' instead of 'have' bothers me more than any other grammatical error. I will draw attention to this error whenever I see it. Good night sir.

 

[chardog]

I predicted that as well. Anyone could see that to be perfectly honest. I knew Khamzat was going to bulldoze Whittaker. He was coming off a great KO win over Ikram, but I was not sold on the whole Ikram win. I knew Whittaker was just too small and simply does not have the strength and wrestling/grappling skills/groundgame to counter the skills combined with the size/strength of Khamzat.

However, the fact that Caio has a pattern of ALWAYS betting against Dricus and whilst being proven wrong every single time, him continues to bash his skills, is truly some serious vendetta rooted in hate.

Maybe Dricus is really hard to read, his skills are unconventional as hell, but they work, and because of that, he’s probably going to survive the onslaught and win.

 

[World eater]

Khamzat mauls DDP. Then proceeds to make Jones seem like an active champ.

 

[Kwic]

I know Khamzat is amazing but DDP is a horse.
I would be shocked if Khamzat was able to steamroll him.