Dricus Du Plessis blames Khamzat Chimaev for their fight not living up to the hype.
Du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) was stifled and dominated by Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in his middleweight title-fight loss at UFC 319 last August. The South African had no answer for Chimaev’s grappling after he was controlled for more than 21 minutes and taken down 12 times.
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Du Plessis and his head coach were irked by Chimaev’s lack of activity on the ground, where he landed only 37 significant strikes. Du Plessis credits Chimaev for the game plan but is confident that had he been willing to engage on the feet, it would’ve been a different outcome.
“Big ups to him, he came out there, and he did what he needed to do,” Du Plessis told Fight Forecast. “Not the kind of fight that I would have wanted with all the hype. It wasn’t a very fun fight to watch for anyone. I got bored in the fight when I was in there, to be honest. He did what he had to do to win that belt. If that’s the way you’re going to go, well, good for you. It’s different strokes. He made sure he stayed out of danger.
“He fought that fight, and he almost neutralized me because if we made it a fight, it would have been a different story. But he knew that, so he was smart in that. Frustrating, absolutely, but like I said, speed bumps. That’s what makes you better. Now I know the little piece of this puzzle where I need to work on and believe me, in my next performance, you will see me do exactly just that. Be a master at that.”
Du Plessis is yet to be booked for his next fight. Prior to the Chimaev loss, Du Plessis was coming off two title defenses against former champions Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dricus Du Plessis makes unexpected admission about Khamzat Chimaev
