Du Plessis Showed Heart Of An ‘African Lion’ in UFC 319 Title Loss

A true champion, Du Plessis called out the imposing Chimaev after two successful title defences against Israel Adesanya and the man he’d seized the belt from, Sean Strickland. Whereas many avoided the Chechen boogeyman, Stillknocks’ mental makeup and warrior spirit are such that he seeks the toughest challenge, and Chimaev proved to be just that.

In the biggest fight of the year, the headline attraction of UFC 319 at a sold-out United Center, the Russian anomaly dominated from start to finish to seize the 185-pound in record-breaking fashion, with all three judges scoring the bout 50-44 in his favour.

A one-of-one grappling monster, Chimaev – who had taken every opponent he’d faced in the Octagon down inside the first minute (bar Gerald Meerschaert, who he knocked out with a single shot) – added Du Plessis to that list, upending South Africa’s first-ever UFC champion inside the first 14 seconds.

Du Plessis, to his credit, stayed incredibly composed on the bottom and eventually got out of the first of several crucifixes, to survive the first round, in which Chimaev is at his most dangerous. The Russian powerhouse proceeded to take Du Plessis down within seconds of every ensuing round and out-landed the champion 529-45 in total strikes.

None, aside from a couple of telling elbows on a grounded Du Plessis in the third round, did real damage, as Chimaev – for the first time in his career – paced himself. In doing so, he broke Max Holloway’s UFC record for the most strikes landed in a single fight, which stood at 447, while his plus-484 striking differential also set a record, breaking Holloway’s mark of plus-312 in the same 2021 bout against Calvin Kattar.

His control time of 21 minutes 40 seconds in the 25-minute fight was also the second-most in UFC history, as he completed 12 out of 17 takedowns to dethrone Du Plessis and improve to a perfect 15-0.

Despite being dominated, Du Plessis demonstrated great heart and self-belief. Knowing he needed a finish to retain his title going into the fifth and final round, he told his coaches, “Ek het hom” (I have him) and gave himself a chance as he landed a couple of good punches and ended up on top with two-and-a-half minutes to go.

Going for broke, he went for a guillotine choke, but Chimaev popped his head out. Once they were stood up by the ref, Du Plessis landed another significant punch, sprawled, and ended up back on top, where he attempted a last-gasp rear-naked choke, but it was not to be for the fighting pride of South Africa.  

The sands of time of his title reign, and nine-fight unbeaten streak in the UFC, had run out, as he suffered his first defeat since 2018 and fell to 20-3.

Beaten but not broken, the Welkom-born warrior’s class shone through in his post-fight interview as he gave Chimaev – who proved he’s as good, if not better, as experts believed – his props and vowed to come back better than ever.

“The man has incredible control on the top. He’s just like a blanket. I mean, it wasn’t a matter of strength. He wasn’t that physical. It’s almost as if he knew what your next move was going to be. At the end, I went for it, had the back. I could almost taste that victory. But big ups to (Chimaev), he beat me fair and square tonight. He was the better man.’

“Everybody in South Africa, you all know this flag (the South African flag) means the world to me. I’m sorry to anyone I let down, I’ll be back stronger. As South Africans, we rise, we fight through adversity, and we’ll show the world they still don’t know what we know. We’re coming back stronger than ever. We will not lose this fight lying down, I promise you that. See you all soon.”

Chimaev’s words summed up the heart and true South African grit Du Plessis had shown, the new king of the middleweights saying in his broken English, “That guy is tough to finish. Respect that guy. The only champion who will say my name. This guy has great heart, real lion. African real lion. Thank you, brother.”