Khamzat Chimaev claims middleweight title with dominant victory over Dricus du Plessis
Khamzat Chimaev may not have won over many new fans with his dominant showing against Dricus du Plessis in the UFC 319 main event on Saturday, but he walked away as the new UFC middleweight champion after a one-sided decision victory built on relentless grappling.
As expected, Chimaev shot for a takedown immediately and was nearly caught in a du Plessis choke but rolled through to end up on top in side control. Chimaev quickly trapped du Plessis' arm between his legs and pounded away from the crucifix position. The punches were short and did not have Chimaev's full power behind them, but he had effectively rendered du Plessis defenseless and with nothing to do but look for a way to muscle out of the position.
Slightly more than halfway through the opening round, du Plessis did manage to free his arm, though he hadn't solved the problem of being stuck under Chimaev's smothering top game. Du Plessis nearly managed to find his way back to his feet in the final stages of the round, but the horn sounded with him still on bottom.
With the first round having gone about as poorly as possible for du Plessis outside of a stoppage, he entered the second round clearly in need of a change. Instead, Chimaev was immediately on the attack once again, putting du Plessis to one knee along the cage.
Du Plessis continued trying to step back up to his feet, but Chimaev held on, dragging him back down and landing knees and fishing to see if there were possible rear-naked choke attempts as the boos from the Chicago crowd grew louder.
The strategy had worked spectacularly for Chimaev in the first two rounds, so he returned to the plan for the third, this time finishing a takedown to return to the side control position where he'd dominated the opening frame. And, just as he'd done in the first round, Chimaev trapped one of du Plessis' arms in a crucifix position. Chimaev began to mix elbows into his attack with this crucifix, putting more damage into play and increasing the potential of a stoppage, but du Plessis was again able to free his arm and ride out the remaining seconds of the round.
Every round is a fresh opportunity, but it was Chamaev who took advantage of the situation. Another round meant another opportunity for a takedown, to force du Plessis to defend his back, to trap his arm in a crucifix.
Referee Marc Goddard introduced a new wrinkle in the fourth round, standing the fighters due to a lack of any real attack from Chimaev. Chimaev's response was simply to secure yet another takedown, where the fight would remain until the round's end.
Du Plessis had a moment of momentum to start the final round, landing a few strikes and forcing Chimaev to look uncomfortable for the first time in the fight. Cue the inevitable Chimaev takedown.
Du Plessis managed to escape the bottom with half of the round remaining, and even ended up in top position, but an attempt to pull a guillotine choke backfired and Chimaev was right back on top.
There would be one more dramatic moment, with the fight restarted with roughly one minute remaining. Du Plessis would again end up on top and this time even took the back after landing some hard strikes, but Chimaev avoided the Hail Mary rear-naked choke and the final seconds ticked out of the fight -- and du Pless' title reign.
Source: CBS Sports
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