Dricus du Plessis told Uncrowned he wanted Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 in Chicago. He got him. He suffered for it. Historically.
In a display of dominance that outdid even his path to the title, Chimaev spent five rounds smothering the life out of what was once an impressive champion, winning by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44) to take the UFC middleweight belt.
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Yes, 50-44, times three. It could have been even worse, but the judges didn’t give Chimaev more than one 10-8 round, likely due to a lack of meaningful damage.
It took seven seconds for Chimaev to get du Plessis on the ground. He landed 12-of-17 takedown attempts and had 21:40 of ground control time in a 25-minute fight. Du Plessis had previously spent 4:56 of time in bottom position in his five-year UFC career, then spent 4:46 there in the first round.
By total strikes, Chimaev outlanded du Plessis 529-45. Most of those strikes weren’t damaging, but the sheer volume shows how one-sided this thing was.
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The best that can be said for du Plessis is he found his legs in the fifth round and made interesting in the final two minutes. The rest of the fight was a demoralizing, overwhelming show of force from a man who now appears poised to toy with the middleweight division for years to come.
How du Plessis described the experience:
“He was just like a blanket. It wasn’t a matter of strength, it wasn’t that physical, it was just as if he knew what your next move was going to be. He got it without using too much power and I had to decide if I’m going to be on my back or have him on my back.
“At the end, I went for it, had the back, I could almost taste that victory, but — you know, big ups to Khamzat. He deserves this one 100%.”
The United Center crowd didn’t love the one-sided, wrestling-heavy show, loudly booing Chimaev in his victory interview. It didn’t seem to bother him much.
The main event could have not had a better lead-in. The third fight of the main card ended in epic fashion when Carlos Prates landed a spinning back elbow to the dome of Geoff Neal for a knockout in the final second of the first round, the ninth spinning back elbow KO in UFC history.
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That would have been a special moment, and then Lerone Murphy did the exact same thing. He welcomed UFC newcomer Aaron Pico with a first-round spinning back elbow KO. Both fighters immediately received a $50,000 bonus and the opportunity to call their shot for their next fight.
It looks like Prates will get a spot on the upcoming Rio de Janeiro card in October — he called out Leon Edwards as an opponent — while UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski accepted a challenge from Murphy via social media.
Check out full UFC 319 results and highlights below.
Main Card results
Middleweight championship: Khamzat Chimaev def. Dricus du Plessis by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44)
Featherweight: Lerone Murphy def. Aaron Pico by KO (spinning back elbow) at 3:21 of Round 1
Welterweight: Carlos Prates def. Geoff Neal by KO (spinning back elbow) at 4:59 of Round 1
Middleweight: Michael Page def. Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Flyweight: Tim Elliott def. Kai Asakura by submission (guillotine) at 4:39 of Round 2
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Prelims results
Middleweight: Baisangur Susurkaev def. Eric Nolan by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:01 of Round 2
Middleweight: Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gerald Meerschaert by TKO (punches) at 3:03 of Round 1
Women’s strawweight: Loopy Godinez def. Jessica Andrade by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Lightweight: Alex Hernandez def. Chase Hooper by TKO (punches) at 4:58 of Round 1
Early prelims results
Lightweight: Drakkar Klose def. Edson Barboza by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Women’s flyweight: Karine Silva def. Dione Barbosa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Flyweight: Joseph Morales def. Alibi Idiris by submission (triangle choke) at 3:04 of Round 2
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