Khamzat Chimaev has revealed what he told Dricus Du Plessis during the main event of UFC 319 on Saturday, as the Russian took the middleweight title from the South African.
Chimaev achieved three scorecards of 50-44 in Chicago, staying unbeaten and confirming a feeling that has surrounded him since his emphatic UFC debut in 2020: that he was a certain future champion.
Illness and travel issues slowed Chimaev’s march to gold somewhat, but he was unstoppable against Du Plessis on Saturday (16 August), ending the champion’s reign after two successful title defences.
Chimaev took down Du Plessis almost at will throughout the five-round bout, and held his fellow 31-year-old on the canvas for extended periods of the contest.
Chimaev revealed in his post-fight press conference that he was even talking to “DDP” during the fight. “I was working on him,” said the Russian. “I had some cool time, just spoke with him, spoke with his coach in the middle of the fight.
“I was happy. I said, ‘Good job, work harder guys.’”
Chimaev secured crucifix position multiple times in the fight, keeping Du Plessis trapped on the mat and open to light but frequent strikes. He said in the post-fight press conference that he uses that position often in training.
“That’s just having fun with my friends,” he said. “I take them in this position, holding them for 25 minutes, one hour sometimes. Make them humble.
“Nobody can take me down, hold me down. So take them to the gym, hold them down there with this position. I do this a lot.”
In dominating Du Plessis for the best part of five rounds, Chimaev answered questions about his cardio, which had seemed a potential vulnerability in the past – perhaps due to his struggles with long Covid.
However, he said: “I don’t care what people think. I’m doing my thing. How many strikes did I land on him? How many takedowns I had there? I didn’t gas out. Now they know.”
Caio Borralho weighed in as the back-up fighter for Saturday’s main event, and he takes on Nassourdine Imavov in September in a potential No 1 contender’s fight. Meanwhile, Anthony Fernandez dominated Roman Dolidze this month to move up the rankings.
But Chimaev simply said of his next fight: “I don’t care about these things. Whoever they give the [most] money [for me to fight]. I’ll fight anyone.”
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Khamzat Chimaev utterly dominates Dricus Du Plessis to usher in new era at UFC 319
