The UFC middleweight division continues to be the most exciting in the company.
August 16th sees the title clash between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, but already, the winner has been called out by anyone and everyone in the top 10.
In the UFC Abu Dhabi main event, Reinier de Ridder beat Robert Whittaker by a very close decision, and the next Paris card sees UFC Backup opponent Caio Borralho take on Nassourdine Imavov.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
It won’t be long before the middleweight division finds out if their reigning king will continue his dominance or a new championship star will be fully realised.
‘Crazy’ Khamzat Chimaev will pull it off against Dricus Du Plessis, says UFC contender
Already backed by Tito Ortiz to beat Du Plessis, Chimaev has had no shortage of backers from current contenders, including Michael ‘Venom’ Page.
Page is fighting on the undercard of 319 against Jared Cannonier after his impressive dismantling of Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov.
When asked by MMA Junkie about his thoughts on the bout, he said: “Well, interestingly, when he (Chimaev) fought Whitaker, I call him like a Crash Bandicoot, he goes in there and he’s going crazy immediately. Although it didn’t last too long, it was the first time I saw him a little bit more composed.
“(Du Plessis) He’s a hard person to do anything with. He seems very awkward. He takes shots well. He’s a bit scrappy, but he just stays in it.”
On how ‘The Wolf’ should approach the contest, he explained it was best to emulate the composure from the Whittaker win.
“So I actually feel like he should just compose himself and try to win rounds first, and then look to see if he can finish him later,” Page said.
He predicted a win for Khamzat, but said that if the South African were to win, he would ‘never’ bet against him in any fight and admit that he could ‘beat anybody’.
Michael ‘Venom’ Page reveals welterweight opponent struggles motivated his move to 185
His move to middleweight was a surprise, considering he only had one loss in the welterweight division to Ian Garry.
However, there was a reason why he struggled to get matched up against any of the top fighters in the division.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, he revealed what the UFC told him after he called out the whole division.
“I thought that was the best way to make something happen. There were no responses at all from anybody. (The UFC told me) It’s difficult to match you,” he said.
“I don’t like to play the avoiding game. But people are being tactical about who they’re fighting next.”
He was even disappointed when the first offer after his Magomedov win was an opponent who ‘didn’t make sense’ for the stature of the victory.
A win against Cannonier, though, would place him in the rankings even if he has some unfinished business in the division below.