"Do you think he drinks before the fight?" - Khamzat Chimaev's ally taunts Dricus du Plessis' fight style, predicts potential 'Borz' fight
Khamzat Chimaev's longtime ally has jabbed at Dricus du Plessis' fighting style, in addition to also predicting how a potential showdown between the two fighters could play out.
The ally is former UFC welterweight title challenger and ex-middleweight contender, Darren Till, who's previously trained with longtime friend Chimaev. Till and 'Borz' have been vocal critics of 'DDP.' Till suffered a third-round submission loss against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 282 (December 2022), before requesting and being granted his UFC release in 2023. The Englishman last competed in boxing.
Meanwhile, du Plessis secured TKO victories over Derek Brunson and ex-UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, before outpointing Sean Strickland to become the new UFC middleweight champion in January 2024. 'DDP' notched his first successful title defense by defeating former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya via fourth-round submission in August 2024.
Following Khamzat Chimaev's first-round submission win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 last weekend, Darren Till appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show. Till acknowledged Dricus du Plessis for beating him fairly. He highlighted that 'DDP' is currently the champion, which is, in hindsight, indicative that he himself was close to becoming a champion.
The 31-year-old believes that if he were a bit stronger than the South African in their fight, he'd have won easily. Till then revisited their clash's second round, wherein he out-struck du Plessis. He added:
"I just don't see how 'DDP' stops this unstoppable force like Khamzat. At the end, 'DDP' is so sh**; he's so good. Would you agree with that? Okay, Ariel, would you agree with that? Yes or no?"
When asked what he meant, Till said:
"He's so sh** that he's so good. Like, everything he does is wrong but just wins fights."
Upon being asked whether it was the most awkward, unorthodox style he'd ever faced, Till answered:
"No. Because when he was doing the stupid sh** to me in the second round, I was just moving and just elbowing him and kneeing him. But then he just does this, like, weird -- I don't know. Do you think he drinks before the fight?"
Helwani then asked Till whether, on the night of their fight, he'd foreseen du Plessis becoming a champion and defending the title. 'The Gorilla' replied:
"Well, no. Because one of the best guys I fought was Whittaker, and then, he [du Plessis] done that to Whittaker. And I was just, like, I can't look past this guy anymore. Then he beats f**king [Sean] Strickland and [Israel] Adesanya. Like, he's currently the greatest middleweight on the planet. He's better than Johnny Eblen. He has to be."
Watch Darren Till's assessment below:
Watch the interview below (*Till's comments about du Plessis at 17:50):
Dricus du Plessis' subtle response to Darren Till's bold claims
Back in August 2024, Darren Till tweeted a video of himself hitting the mitts, adding a statement that he'd "destroy" both Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis. Well, du Plessis fired back by appearing to lightheartedly jibe that 'The Gorilla' "got cut" from the UFC, albeit voluntarily.
Presently, it's unclear as to if and when Darren Till would ever return to the UFC fold. On the other hand, reigning UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis is expected to defend his title in a rematch against Sean Strickland next, or perhaps against Khamzat Chimaev.