A man who gave Khamzat Chimaev one of his toughest challenges to date has a prediction for UFC 319.

Chimaev is set to challenge Dricus du Plessis for the UFC Middleweight Championship on Saturday. It’s the first title opportunity for the unbeaten “Borz,” who weighed in at 183 pounds for the bout. He is looking to show the world that he isn’t just hype in a stacked middleweight division.

For most of his career up to this point, Chimaev has looked dominant. There are two key exceptions even in victory for Chimaev, however. He had a three-round war with Gilbert Burns that resulted in a unanimous decision victory. He also went three rounds with Kamaru Usman in a highly competitive affair.

During a new edition of the “Pound 4 Pound Podcast,” Usman shared his belief that momentum might be on Chimaev’s side for UFC 319 (h/t MMAJunkie).

“I think Khamzat Chimaev might actually go out there and get it done. If you look at the landscape of where we are right now, it’s almost like every so often we get a turn, we get a new generation of guys that come out and just become the superstars of the game. You’re talking Conor McGregor out of nowhere, the superstars of the game. You’re talking about Alexander Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya. You’re talking about Ilia Topuria. Now look at the landscape. We’ve got Tom Aspinall and you’ve got potentially Khamzat Chimaev.”

Usman added that he doesn’t feel du Plessis has fought a true wrestler since Derek Brunson back in 2023. “The Nigerian Nightmare” also praised du Plessis for his ability to stay locked in no matter the circumstance. He also feels that if Chimaev hasn’t tightened up his cardio, then the middleweight champion might retain his gold.

The problem is, Usman doesn’t feel Chimaev has left any stone unturned going into fight night.