Tom Aspinall believes that when Khamzat Chimaev takes your back – there’s ‘no way out.’
And that’s exactly why the UFC heavyweight champion says Chimaev could cause serious trouble for Dricus du Plessis in UFC 319’s main event.
Du Plessis defends his middleweight title for the third time against Chimaev in Chicago on Saturday to conclude what has been a blockbuster summer for Dana White’s promotion.
Both men made their UFC debut in 2020 and have since established their names among the elite in the sport.
Their paths were always destined to cross as two of the world’s best middleweights, and they will finally meet in the main event of UFC 319.
Although he is the challenger, Chimaev is the oddsmakers’ favourite to dethrone du Plessis of his belt.
Several members of the MMA fraternity believe the undefeated Russian possesses such an elite level of ground game that it will prove too much for the South African champion,
UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall is an expert himself on the canvas and has explained why Chimaev is so good in that department.
What did Tom Aspinall say about Khamzat Chimaev?
“Essentially, [Chimaev is a] front-foot fighter. [He] likes to be on the front foot,” Aspinall explained on TNT Sports.
“A lot of fakes [down] and a super athletic guy. A lot of fakes up and down, which is when you see him doing this kind of thing: Goes down [for the takedown], then when his opponents go down, he’ll come up with the right [hand], [as he has] really heavy hands as well.”
Aspinall then pointed out how ‘unorthodox’ Chimaev is with his wrestling style.
“Usually, you’ll attack the hips, but [Chimaev] will go extremely low,” the Briton added.
“He attacks the knees and goes on his own knees. Then, when his opponent starts to sprawl, he comes up high and gets this position (standing up, with arms wrapped around opponent from behind).
“[Chimaev] gets his opponents to their knees, and once he gets them here (to the canvas), this is when he’s in his world then.
“He’ll get a hook in…throw punches, attack the neck. The level of grappling that Khamzat Chimaev brings is… He’s so high level, and his grappling is so, so high level.”
Chimaev has finished half of his eight UFC victories by way of submission.
In his last fight, ‘Borz’ locked in such a tight face crank on former UFC champion Robert Whittaker that three of the Australian’s teeth caved in and he tapped out instantly.
“We’ve seen guys like Robert Whittaker in [Chimaev’s] last fight,” Aspinall concluded.
“He trained for 12 weeks or more in defending a double-leg takedown or defending the takedown while going to the back.
“And [Chimaev] goes out there and he’s got [the submission] in 30 seconds.
“Once he’s on the back, he gets that hook, and he’s riding his opponents; there doesn’t seem to be a way out.”
UFC 319 full card
Main card
Dricus du Plessis (c) vs. Khamzat Chimaev – UFC middleweight title
Lerone Murphy vs. Aaron Pico – Featherweight
Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates – Welterweight
Jared Cannonier vs. Michael Page – Middleweight
Tim Elliott vs. Kai Asakura – Flyweight
Preliminary card
King Green vs. Diego Ferreira – Lightweight
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk – Middleweight
Jessica Andrade vs. Loopy Godinez – Women’s Strawweight
Chase Hooper vs. Alexander Hernandez – Lightweight
Edson Barboza vs. Drakkar Klose – Lightweight
Bryan Battle vs. Nursulton Ruziboev – Middleweight
Early preliminary fight
Karine Silva vs JJ Aldrich – Women’s Flyweight
Chimaev’s danger may seem intimidating to the average fighter, but du Plessis plans to give the Russian a taste of his own medicine at UFC 319.
His head coach, Morne Visser, said on UFC 319 Countdown that the defending champion doesn’t ‘want to try get away’ from Chimaev’s wrestling, rather ‘f*** him up in his game.’
Du Plessis’ main training partner, Mark Hulme, has also backed his fellow South African to finish Chimaev ‘under three rounds’ in violent style.