On Saturday night, there will be more than a gale blustering through the Windy City. Chicago’s United Center will do its best to contain a hurricane of a fight – a contender for fight of the year, in fact.
In the main event of UFC 319, Dricus Du Plessis will defend the middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev, in a contest that promises chaos. It may not prove the peak of technicality inside the Octagon, but if your taste tends towards the turbulent, then savour this.
In one corner will be the South African champion, a fighter subject to many a meme – yet memes borne from respect, strangely. Du Plessis was once derided for his lumbering, unorthodox style, yet it saw him mow down a who’s who of middleweights, earning him four wins over three champions: Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker, and Sean Strickland twice. Now, ahead of his third title defence, the jokes doing the rounds are the likes of “DDP by oversized cartoon hammer” and “DDP by falling piano”.
But if you’d prefer an appraisal of his style from arguably the greatest middleweight of this generation, rather than from fans on X, here’s what Adesanya had to say about the 31-year-old: “He’s just stubborn. It’s even funny to watch – and I give him all the respect. Look, he’s so good at what he does. What was it I said before? He’s the best s*** fighter in the world!”
Adesanya’s grudge match with Du Plessis was an enthralling war 12 months ago, but it ended emphatically when Du Plessis – a much less seasoned striker than the former champion – rocked Adesanya, before hauling him to the mat and submitting him.
Awkward but effective sums up Du Plessis, who is unbeaten in the UFC and whose overall MMA record stands at 23-2, with a near-even split of 9 KO/TKOs and 11 submissions in his favour. Furthermore, such is his ungainliness that his cardio across five rounds was doubted, until he outlasted Strickland on two occasions – to win and later retain the title – with nasal surgery helping along the way.
Now, Du Plessis’s durability is seen as the potential key on Saturday (16 August), if he is to do what no fighter has done: beat Chimaev.
The Russian is widely considered the most frightening prospect ever seen in the UFC, although at 31 – and five years into his UFC tenure – he is no longer a prospect. Now, he is a legitimate contender, finally in a title fight. So, why has it taken him so long to reach this point, given his dominance inside the cage?
The drawbacks for Chimaev, a relentless wrestler who hits like a truck, have been two-fold. Severe illness has afflicted the 14-0 Chimaev, who once feared he was suffering from cancer after coughing up blood, only to find that the symptoms were related to long Covid.
While Chimaev now seems healthy, he has only just overcome another obstacle to his momentum, in the form of travel troubles. It was long rumoured that Chimaev was unable to enter the US, due to his ties to Ramzan Kadyrov – the head of the Chechen Republic, who has been blacklisted by the US over alleged human-rights abuses and crimes against humanity, including murders and torture.
In fact, Chimaev last week confirmed his travel ineligibility, though he did not confirm its cause. “Everyone knows I didn’t have a Visa to the US, that’s why I didn’t fight [there],” he said. “So now, Donald Trump, he heard, so we go for a fight,” he added, referencing the US president, a close friend of UFC president Dana White.
Chimaev’s illness and travel issues have meant that he has fought just twice in the last two years, but he initially forged a frightening run in the UFC. In July 2020, the Russian stopped John Phillips and Rhys McKee just 10 days apart. Two months later – switching between welterweight and middleweight – Chimaev bludgeoned Gerald Meerschaert inside 17 seconds.
But if Chimaev’s momentum felt unsustainable, that’s because it was. He submitted Li Jingliang early in his next fight, but that was 11 months after the Meerschaert KO. Then, in 2022, a leap in competition against Gilbert Burns showed the only glimpses of vulnerability in Chimaev so far; he was dropped by the ex-title challenger and only narrowly won on points. Five months later, the UFC seemingly tried to use Chimaev to put Nate Diaz out to pasture, but the “Wolf” missed weight, and UFC 279 was thrown into disarray. Diaz went on to submit Tony Ferguson on short notice, while Chimaev submitted Kevin Holland. Another impressive, early win, but Chimaev’s stock had fallen due to the chaos he caused.
Then, another long absence: 13 months before Chimaev narrowly beat ex-170lb king Kamaru Usman, who had stepped in on short notice to debut at middleweight. Around this time, there were also numerous attempts to book Chimaev against Leon Edwards, but Chimaev shouldered the responsibility as each effort failed. As such, his wins over Usman and Whittaker came 12 months apart.
But his performance against Whittaker showed that Chimaev’s ability had to trump his availability when it came to booking a title fight. Against one of the middleweight greats, Chimaev was unstoppable, shattering Whittaker’s jaw with a first-round face crank.
It was another terrifying reminder of Chimaev’s efficient violence, which now goes up against Du Plessis’s efficient awkwardness. And in another sense, one man’s inevitable dominance goes up against another’s unexpected dominance. The result, as far as most fans are concerned, is almost too tough to call. The unpredictability is part of the allure. So is the chaos.
