Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is going with ‘wildcard’ Dricus du Plessis this Saturday night in Chicago.
Emanating from the United Center, UFC 319 will see ‘DDP’ put his undisputed middleweight crown on the line against undefeated Chechen monster Khamzat Chimaev in a bout that seemingly has MMA fans split down the middle.
As it stands, oddsmakers are still leaning towards Chimaev to come out on top, with ‘Borz’ trending as a 2-to-1 favorite to leave ‘The Windy City’ with the 185-pound crown wrapped around his waist. But not everyone is convinced that Chimaev will get past the odds-defying South African.
“I’mma go DDP just because I hate when they try to force-feed a star, I hate when they try to groom somebody into something,” Woodley said in an interview courtesy of Action Network. “You let them fight. Let them sort out what they’re gonna do. And I feel like there’s been a lot of grooming of him, and there’s been a lot of talk, and a lot of hype. I give him his credit, but I’mma just play the wild card, I’m gonna go with DDP.”
Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis are both unbeaten in the UFC
Thus far, du Plessis is a perfect 9-0 under the UFC banner. An especially impressive feat when you consider that ‘Stillknocks’ has opened as an underdog in seven of those nine fights, including title tilts against Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya.
Of course, ‘DDP’ has never faced a fighter as ferocious as Chimaev, leading many to believe that the Russian-born boogeyman will ragdoll his way to another dominant victory inside the Octagon.
Chimaev goes into his first UFC title opportunity with an unblemished 14-0 record — his most recent victory coming by way of a teeth-shattering submission over Robert Whittaker in Abu Dhabi last year.
