Tom Aspinall snubs Dricus du Plessis in favor of Khamzat Chimaev in brutally honest UFC prediction for 2025

Dricus du Plessis won't be the UFC middleweight champion for long in 2025, at least according to Tom Aspinall. The Englishman recently appeared in a since-deleted interview with TNT Sports that was later reposted on X, with Aspinall predicting a Khamzat Chimaev title triumph.

Aspinall predicted that the middleweight will end up in Chechen hands once undefeated sensation Chimaev fights for the title. He believes 'Borz' is enough skilled and effective to be crowned the 185-pound division's eventual kingpin:

"Right, I've picked against Dricus, so many times, I'm not going to do it again, but I think to say that Khamzat Chimaev is not going to be a champion this time next year is just silly. So I'm going to say Khamzat."

Check out Tom Aspinall predicting Dricus du Plessis to lose to Khamzat Chimaev (1:15):

Chimaev is currently a fixture in the middleweight title scene, as he is expected to face the winner of the UFC 312 headliner, where Du Plessis will defend his middleweight title against former 185-pound champion Sean Strickland in a rematch of their UFC 297 war.

Du Plessis won their initial bout via split decision, but Strickland maintains that he had done enough to get his hand raised. Meanwhile, 'Borz' is coming off a stunning first-round submission win over former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 308.

After dominantly outwrestling Whittaker, the unbeaten Chechen phenom took his foe's back and slapped on a face crank, crushing his jaw in round one.

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Dricus du Plessis recently defeated another stylistic nightmare

While Tom Aspinall favors Khamzat Chimaev to beat Dricus du Plessis, the South African star has made a career of beating opponents expected to beat him. He is currently undefeated in the UFC and recently submitted former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who many believed would beat him.

Check out Dricus du Plessis submitting Israel Adesanya:

Adesanya was considered a stylistically difficult opponent for Du Plessis due to his pinpoint counterpunching and the South African's reckless tendency to lungr into range. Yet, Du Plessis submitted him in round four, extending his unbeaten UFC run to 8-0.