Khamzat Chimaev will lose to Dricus du Plessis unless he secures a finish, claims common opponent during eye-opening breakdown

Khamzat Chimaev and UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis appear to be on a collision course. After du Plessis' dominant world title defense against Sean Strickland earlier this year and Chimaev's utter dismantling of Robert Whittaker back in October of last year, their clash seems inevitable.

Whittaker has faced both middleweights and provided a breakdown of the matchup in a recent interview with Submission Radio. 'The Reaper' said:

"I can't see anyone really stopping Chimaev's takedowns. His takedowns are so hard to stop. So hard to stop. And his wrestling and his grappling is just is super high level. I guess the question that always comes in is like, can DDP [Dricus du Plessis] drag it into those later rounds? Can he, you know, get through the first wrestling/grappling exchanges and then start to capitalize on his persistence."

He added:

"Because honestly, if Chimaev can't get DDP out of there, DDP wins. DDP wins almost every fight [where] you can't get rid of him, right? Because he's like mold dude [laughs]... Honestly, dude. He's not going anywhere. He'll just wear you down and belt you up until he wins."

Check out Robert Whittaker's comments about Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev below (8:07):

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When MMA legend Randy Couture theorized the perfect gameplan to beat Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev's unstoppable wrestling has been a puzzle no one's been able to solve inside the octagon. His takedowns and top control can be compared to someone like Mike Tyson in boxing - he comes in fast, furious, and nearly impossible to stop.

But who else is more credible to solve this puzzle than the OG MMA wrestler himself, five-time UFC champion Randy Couture? 'The Natural' is one of the most successful MMA fighters to come from collegiate wrestling, revolutionizing the art of dirty boxing and effective, systematic ground-and-pound.

Appearing on Red Hawk Recap on YouTube, Couture suggested the art of repeatedly putting yourself in bad positions:

"You have to put yourself in those situations. Have guys relentlessly pursuing you to put you on the ground. Shackle your ankles in that Dagestani leg irons and tie you up and smother you and force you turn to quarter position. I mean, we've seen that style time and time again. You're gonna have to put yourself in a bunch of those situations in a good 10 or 12-week camp and be ready to have counters and answers and out-wrestle in those circumstances."

Check out Randy Couture's full analysis below (40:23):