Lesser fighters yes, but not stylistically easier.
Burns is a lesser fighter than Whittaker, but not stylistically, because Khamzat didn't fear Whittaker's BJJ like he feared Burns BJJ.
"No knees, ancient WW Usman" proved to be tougher than former MW-champ Whittaker, due to his submission defense, takedown defense, even though Whittaker is a real MW with better striking and very good takedown defense.
With regards to Dricus opponents, Khamzat is obviously a much tougher matchup than Strickland or Izzy, given that he will now have to face a serious takedown threat instead of being the one who can threaten his opponent with takedowns.
We have seen Khamzat take down every opponent he has ever tried to take down in round 1, except former Sambo world champion Ikram Aliskerov, who he then KO'd within a couple of minutes.
The two times he has made it to a decision, he won round 1 in both, one by a 10-8, and hit takedowns in the later rounds even while hurt/gassed/injured.
Dricus has had competitive fights with lesser opponents (Till, Tavares, Brunson), while Khamzat's two competitive fights have been against a former champion and former title contender (as a WW).
He also lost later rounds to Izzy and Strickland, which proves that he's not destined to dominate every round past round 2 like you might expect.
If Khamzat can take Dricus down, and Dricus has been taken down by lesser wrestlers, his striking/kickboxing/beach muscles won't factor in, what will matter is his ability to do better than Usman, Whittaker, etc, in wrestling/grappling exchanges.
So far, there's not much to suggest that he can and that's why the main argument I hear in Dricus favor is his size and strength, and offensive wrestling against strikers.
I don't think it's enough, if it proves to be, I will take my hat off and admit that Dricus proved me wrong.
Fun fact, Dricus vs Brunson is more recent than Khamzat vs Burns, and it's in the same weight class they are now fighting in.
