With just over a week remaining until UFC 319, Khamzat Chimaev has been sharpening his conditioning under the guidance of Sam Calavitta, the longtime coach of former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw. Dillashaw himself praised Chimaev’s improved cardio, calling it his ‘secret weapon’ in the quest to dethrone middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis. But ‘Stillknocks’ remains unfazed ahead of their highly anticipated fight on August 16 at the United Center in Chicago. 

“I’m going out there and I’m going to shock the world once again, like every other time when everybody said, ‘It’s impossible, not this guy,’” du Plessis told Ariel Helwani. However, ‘Borz’ is relying on another weapon in his arsenal to prove why he’s the heavy favorite heading into the matchup. What is it? Well, according to a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Chimaev revealed that takedowns will be his go-to strategy for ending du Plessis’ undefeated run in the UFC.

“After my fight with Robert… I said to the guys, ‘Watch guys, the other UFC fighters who usually strike, they take [du Plessis] down,’” Chimaev told Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA. The 31-year-old highlighted that compared to du Plessis’ previous opponents, who have taken him down, he is a way better wrestler, in fact, the best wrestler in the UFC. “How [is it] not possible to take this guy down if Robert took him down, and Darren Till scrambled and take over, and he took him down as well,” Chimaev said. 

“The guys know by which level I am in wrestling and in MMA,” he warned du Plessis ahead of their fight. Robert Whittaker did score a takedown against du Plessis in their fight at UFC 290. Whittaker secured a takedown in the first round, though du Plessis quickly attempted a guillotine choke and used the cage to return to his feet shortly after. However, in the fight against Darren Till at UFC 282, du Plessis dominated the grappling exchanges, taking Till down multiple times and ultimately submitting him with a face crank in the third round.

Regardless, UFC legend Rampage Jackson backs Chimaev’s take-down strategy after watching him train recently.

Khamzat Chimaev left Rampage Jackson stunned ahead of Dricus du Plessis

The former UFC light heavyweight champion recently appeared in an interview with Helen Yee, where he revealed his recent encounter with the Russian native. “I saw him train the other day. I saw him train on Friday, I think,” Jackson told Yee when asked about Chimaev. “I was there and I just waved at everybody.”

When Yee pressed further, asking about how the 31-year-old looked in training camp, Jackson seemed impressed with how things were going. “He looked good,” Jackson said. “I saw him taking somebody down. He was beating up somebody. I was like, ‘Oh man, he’s looking good.’” However, Jackson appears to have been left hanging when Chimaev didn’t wave back at him. 

“Some of his teammates and stuff did, but he was he was busy kicking somebody’s a–,” Jackson added. 

If the pressure of being the underdog in his own title defense wasn’t enough, Khamzat Chimaev appears to have been given the nod from Rampage Jackson as well. However, the question is, can Dricus du Plessis shock the world, as he claims?