PROS REACT AFTER KHAMZAT CHIMAEV DOMINATES DRICUS DUPLESSIS AT UFC 319

Tonight’s UFC 319 event was headlined by a highly anticipated middleweight title fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev.

Du Plessis (23-3 MMA) was looking to earn his third consecutive title defense when he took to the Octagon this evening. ‘Stillknocks’ had most previously competed at February’s UFC 312 event in Sydney, where he scored a unanimous decision victory over former title holder Sean Strickland. Prior to that, the South African had submitted Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in August of last year.

Meanwhile, Khamzat Chimaev (15-0 MMA) entered his first career UFC title fight sporting a perfect professional record, with his most previous win coming via first-round submission against former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Prior to that impressive showing, ‘Borz’ was coming off a razor close majority decision win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294.

Tonight’s UFC 319 main event proved to be a one-sided affair. Khamzat Chimaev was able to dominate Dricus Du Plessis for four straight rounds, using his superior grappling to overwhelm and control the South African. Although ‘DDP’ was able to mount some offense in round five, it wasn’t nearly enough to rectify the dominance that Chimaev put forth in the opening four rounds. After 25-minutes of action, Chimaev was awarded a much-deserved unanimous decision win.

Official UFC 319 Results: Khamzat Chimaev def. Dricus Du Plessis by unanimous decision (50-44 x3)

Check out how the pros reacted to ‘Du Plessis vs. Chimaev’ below:

BIG FIGHT IN THE MW DIV!

If Chimaev doesn’t take him out in the 1st couple rounds,

I’m afraid DDP will take it home. #UFC319

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) August 17, 2025

The strikers have been on a streak I think it’s time a grappler wins

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 17, 2025

Here we go! Driccus by Late stoppage. Or khamzat in first round annihilation. Got all my bases covered with that one 😂

— michael (@bisping) August 17, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis is about to shock the world #UFC319

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) August 17, 2025

Let’s go DDP. In a perfect world DDP wins and Fluff gets his go next!! 👹🐓🏆 #UFC319

— Max Griffin (@MaxPainGriffin) August 17, 2025

Is dricus kissing 🧁 Chenchen at end?

— Paulo Costa (@BorrachinhaMMA) August 17, 2025

This is going to be a good stare down! #UFC319

— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) August 17, 2025

I think This is the fight that will help set DDP apart from other known champions – in the fans eyes. #UFC319

— Dominick Cruz (@DominickCruz) August 17, 2025

Khamzat just landed a significant strike before the fight even started #UFC319

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) August 17, 2025

Double leg was to easy not to go right back to it

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 17, 2025

That was a stressful first round lmao

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) August 17, 2025

How fun would Khamzat vs Islam be?? Damn if we coulda had that fight 🔥🔥🔥🔥

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) August 17, 2025

Very few killers in this game!

— Michael Johnson (@Menace155) August 17, 2025

Is Usman the uncrowned middleweight champion?!

— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) August 17, 2025

Can’t Fight

— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) August 17, 2025

Has there ever been such a one sided championship fight before??

— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) August 17, 2025

Absolute domination thus far from Chimaev. #UFC319

— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) August 17, 2025

2-1 DDP?

— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) August 17, 2025

Chimaev dominating the later rounds was not on my 2025 bingo card #UFC319

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) August 17, 2025

15 years ago Silva pulled off an amazing 5th round comeback for the 185lb title. Seems like DDP would need such a miracle aswell. #UFC319

— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) August 17, 2025

Post-fight reactions to Khamzat Chimaev defeating Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319:

I really gotta lock in.

— Bo Nickal (@NoBickal) August 17, 2025

Chechnya’s first UFC Champion! Congrats!

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 17, 2025

Told you it would be easy

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 17, 2025

Chimaev beat DDP with the same pace style and pressure as always! #ufc319

— Dominick Cruz (@DominickCruz) August 17, 2025

Im probably the only one in the UFC that can out grapple that little whore for 5 rounds….

Well looks like I gotta stack some Ws to fight that little bitch lmao

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) August 17, 2025

Who would you like to see Chimaev fight next following his victory over Du Plessis this evening in Chicago?

- Chris Taylor

ISLAM MAKHACHEV SENDS DEFIANT DIRECT MESSAGE TO JACK DELLA MADDALENA FOLLOWING UFC 315 TITLE WIN

Islam Makhachev’s next fight has finally become clear following UFC 315 this past Saturday.

In the UFC 315 main event in Montreal on Saturday, Jack Della Maddalena dethroned Belal Muhammad to become the new welterweight champion after a five round war.

Following the fight, Muhammad was trolled by Dricus Du Plessis, the UFC middleweight champion, after Belal Muhammad previously hinted at a future move up to 185lbs.

Ahead of the UFC 315 main event, UFC boss Dana White claimed that the result would determine both Islam Makhachev’s and Ilia Topuria’s next fights, as the two were linked to fight each other but Makhachev continued to remain hopeful of moving up in weight.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Islam Makhachev sends Jack Della Maddalena a defiant message

Islam Makhachev was in an awkward position coming into the welterweight title fight as Muhammad is his teammate so he was supporting him, however, he knew ‘Remember The Name’ stood in his way.

Immediately after Della Maddalena’s win in the main event, the Russian took to social media to declare his next fight will come against the Australian, stating that his plan to become double champion is on.

Although Della Maddalena isn’t teammates with Alexander Volkanovski, the two are close friends, and in his Octagon interview, the Australian stated that he wants to beat Makhachev for Volkanovski, after he suffered two losses to the Russian.

“You are not Volkanovski, I will show you different levels. Keep my belt clean,” Makhachev told Della Maddalena in a post on social media.

Volkanovski and Makhachev first fought in 2023 at UFC 284 when Makhachev very narrowly picked up the unanimous decision win in what was an extremely close fight.

Jack Della Maddalena responds to Islam Makhachev

With Della Maddalena completely open to fighting the lightweight champion in his first title defense, he issued his response to Makhachev in the UFC 315 post-fight press conference.

“Come and get it, come get it,” Della Maddalena responded to Makhachev.

Makhachev revealed earlier this week that he won’t be vacating his 155lb title in pursuit of the second belt and it is still unclear when he may return to the Octagon with his opponent now clear.

- Jamie Theodosi

ISRAEL ADESANYA SAYS HE WANYS REMATCH WITH SEAN STRICKLAND

Israel Adesanya has confirmed a recent claim from his coach that he intends to return to the Octagon, and has revealed that he’s specifically looking for a rematch with Sean Strickland. Adesanya lost the middleweight title to Strickland in a shocking upset back in September of 2023. That marked the start of a three-fight losing ...

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Israel Adesanya has confirmed a recent claim from his coach that he intends to return to the Octagon, and has revealed that he’s specifically looking for a rematch with Sean Strickland.

Adesanya lost the middleweight title to Strickland in a shocking upset back in September of 2023. That marked the start of a three-fight losing streak, having also gone on to be submitted by Dricus du Plessis in another title fight last year, followed by a TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov earlier this year.

Following that it was unclear whether Adesanya would fight again, but though he admits he didn’t have the motivation to do so, he’s since rediscovered his competitive drive.

“I didn’t spar after my last fight,” Adesanya admits on his YouTube channel. “I did so well in the fight, I did so well in the camp, and I didn’t get the result that I wanted, but I was still proud of myself. I’m still proud of the way I worked. So then I didn’t spar because I just looked after my brain. Then, when I was in Miami recently watching [Volkanovski] get his belt back, then I sparred with Kamaru Usman for the first time in months. And I knew once I sparred it would be like, ‘Man, I’ve gotta fight!’

“So for me now, I told my coach already, it’s time. I just knew. And I have a feeling who I want to fight. You’ll like this one: I’ve gotta get some get back.

“Strickland. I’m going to get it back.”

Adesanya goes on to acknowledge that Strickland deserved his victory in their first clash, but intends to give a better account of himself next time.

Adesanya goes on to acknowledge that Strickland deserved his victory in their first clash, but intends to give a better account of himself next time.

“He beat me fair and square in Sydney,” Adesanya said. “5 – Nil. Just whooped my ass, badly. Again, that was one of the things that made me realize I need to slow down in my activity. I was fighting 3-4 times a year as champion. So I want to pull back now, because I’m older, I’m doing things different.

“I don’t want to make excuses, because he beat me, but I just want to show him if he beat me at my best. So this time I’m going to come at him correct.

“Everything is done since then. Because I used to get bullied a lot as a kid. So he’s an embodiment of that, in a sense, because he attacked me, the inner child. So i just want to protect him and get some get back for him.”

Like Adesanya, Strickland hasn’t had the best of times in the Octagon since they fought, as just a few months later he lost the belt to Dricus du Plessis, and while he did go on to beat Paulo Costa by split-decision after that, he’s since suffered a more convincing decision loss in a rematch with du Plessis back in February.

The No.2 ranked Strickland doesn’t currently have a fight booked, and given that it still feels like there’s unfinished business between them, a rematch with the No.4 placed Adesanya feels like it has a good chance of being greenlit.

- Ross Cole

DU PLESSIS SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS MIDDLEWEIGHT BELT IN REMATCH WITH STRICKLAND UFC 312

Dricus Du Plessis - Getty Images
 

Dricus Du Plessis didn’t like the way his first meeting with Sean Strickland ended in a split decision a little more than a year ago, so he made sure there was no doubt on Sunday at UFC 312 in Sydney.

In a rather lackluster rematch, Du Plessis retained his middleweight belt with a dominating unanimous decision over a bloodied Strickland.

This was a big proving point for me, (but) I don’t want to make it a habit of these decisions," Du Plessis said. “The game plan here was stay calm, because (my coach) said, ‘You know you can knock somebody out. We know you have that dog (in you). Try and stay calm.’ Because It was really hard once I saw him grabbing at his nose.”

It was the second title defense for the 31-year-old Du Plessis (23-2) after defeating Israel Adesanya with a fourth-round submission on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia.

The first round saw Strickland (29-7) trying to establish his jab, while Du Plessis stayed aggressive with an array of kicks.

Strickland continued to approach his attacks cautiously in the second round, attempting to pick his spots. Other than a strong right hand early in the round, it was Du Plessis who won the significant-strikes battle, 28-17.

The third drew more boos than it did action through the first half of the round, until an overhand right, and later a spinning back fist by Du Plessis landed.

The fourth round saw the most action, with the champion breaking Strickland’s nose with a hard right punch and then applying nonstop pressure on his challenger. While the first three rounds were extremely close, Du Plessis dominated the fourth.

Du Plessis continued to pepper Strickland’s nose in the final round, while staying on the attack to confirm the win.

In the co-main event, women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili (26-3-0) overcame a rough first round and controlled more than 21 minutes of her title defense against No. 1 contender Tatiana Suarez (11-1-0) to earn a unanimous decision to retain her belt.

Zhang has won her past four title defenses, three by unanimous decision and the other by second-round submission.

From the undercard:

Heavyweight Tallison Teixeira (8-0-0) made his UFC debut by scoring a first-round TKO over Justin Tafa (7-5-0). That made it eight straight bouts Teixeira has ended in the first round, this one lasting just 35 seconds.

In an action-packed light heavyweight bout, Jim Crute (12-4-2) and Rodolfo Bellato (12-2-1) both turned in impressive performances. Crute dominated the first round, while Bellato was better in the second. A very close third left the judges turning in a majority draw.

In a three-round welterweight bout, Jake Matthews (21-7-0) defeated Francisco Prado (12-3-0) by unanimous decision

 - The Canadian Press/AP

 

CHAEL SONNEN: ISLAM MAKHACHEV'S DESIRE TO CHANGE WEIGHT CLASSES ISN'T ABOUT UFC TITLE

ZUFFA LLC

Chael Sonnen believes the true reason UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has been talking about chasing a second title in a higher weight class has nothing to do with accolades or building a legacy.

Soon after defeating short-notice opponent Renato Moicano in the first round at UFC 311, Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) said he would move up to middleweight to challenge current champion Dricus Du Plessis. Moving from 155 pounds to 185 is a huge jump in weight, but it would be the next logical step for Makhachev since he will not fight current welterweight champ Belal Muhammad.

“Islam’s got to talk about (Alex) Pereira at 205, and he’s got to talk about Dricus at 185,” Sonnen told MMA Junkie. “And that’s weird, and that’s not anything that anybody will take serious, but he has to do that because his friend has the belt at 170.

“There’s really no teams out there, there’s just guys that say they belong to a team, and that includes the NFL and NBA. Those guys are whores. You put down a bigger check than somebody else, they’re put your jersey on. The only team, real team, is Khabib’s and they have a code and they have an honor. You’re just not going to see a fight with Islam and Belal. But the No. 1 thing that Islam wants, and the No. 1 reason he keeps bringing things like this up – it’s not a challenge, it’s not a new world title. He wants out of the weight class.”

After hitting championship weight of 155 pounds at official weigh-ins the day before the fight, Makhachev gained 23.5 pounds, weighing-in at 178 pounds on the night of UFC 311. That’s just slightly under what he claims is his walk around weight of around 180.

If Makhachev were to move up to challenge Du Plessis, he knows it would take time to bulk up and add muscle to his frame, but he believes he could get the job done.

Sonnen is of the belief that Makhachev’s calls to change divsiions is a plea for help of sorts, and one that could lead to an early retirement if not acknowledged by the UFC.

“The biggest problem Islam has is a thing that beat his coach twice and that ultimately retired – Khabib did not retire because he didn’t want to fight Conor (McGregor) a second time,” Sonnen said. “The UFC showed him the wrong numbers. Every time they had a meeting, they showed more commas and more zeroes. That was the wrong number. If they would have made the weight class 170, they would have got Khabib for one more fight. They’re going to run into that same problem with Islam eventually.

“The No. 1 reason a combat athlete retires – they tell you it’s because their contract’s up, they tell you because they’ve had enough, they tell you because it’s too told – the No. 1 reason, No. 1, any combat athlete retires: they don’t want to make that weight anymore. They don’t want to beat the scale. Everything that goes into that. That is a 24/7 lifestyle to get those calories off to beat that damn scale.”

- Matthew Wells and Mike Bohn

DANA WHITE TAKES 'FULL RESPONSIBILITY' FOR ERASING FRANCES NGANNOU'S NAMR FRON UFC 305 PRIMOTION VIDEOS AS HE ISSUES APOLOGY

Dana White’s relationship with Francis Ngannou has always been a rocky one, and ahead of UFC 305 this past Saturday, the promotion seemingly cut Ngannou’s name out of the UFC 305 countdown video which didn’t sit well with Israel Adesanya.

At one point, the UFC donned three champions from Africa in Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou, but things went from bad to worse as Usman and Adesanya lost their titles and Ngannou left the promotion.

A few months prior to UFC 305, Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis took part in an on-sale press conference in which Adesanya commented on the history of African champions, mentioning Ngannou.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

Dana White was unaware of the promotion cutting out Ngannou’s name

During UFC 305 fight week, the UFC posted their UFC 305 countdown video in which they used the clip of the former middleweight champion talking about the history of African champions, however, they removed Ngannou’s name from their version of the video.

‘The Last Stylebender’ made it extremely clear at the UFC 305 media day that he wasn’t happy with the promotion for erasing Ngannou’s name from the promotion, stating that ‘you can never erase Francis’ history from the UFC’.

Following another week of Dana White’s Contender Series this past Tuesday evening, the UFC boss was asked about the decision to remove ‘The Predator’s’ name from the promotion, to which he was confused about and didn’t know it had happened.

“If that’s true (that we removed his name) and that was done and it was something we produced, then somebody in the company made that decision. Listen, you know me, if I said we did it, I’d say ‘Yeah f*** him this is why we did it’, I know nothing about it, nobody ever asked me about it and this is the first we’re hearing about it,” Dana White stated at the DWCS post-fight press conference.

Dana White takes responsibility for the removal of Ngannou’s name and apologizes

Despite the initial confusion, following the press conference White and his team discussed the matter and he issued another comment on it.

“My production team are a bunch of rock stars and they are truly f*cking awesome. I make it so hard on them sometimes with some of the crazy sh*t I say and it’s tough. When you (Kevin Iole) asked me about that, I didn’t know anything about it.

“But someone was editing that and made a conscious decision, thinking that was the right thing to do, that that’s what we would have wanted, what I would have wanted. I didn’t know about it and that was nothing that ever came across my desk.

I’m in charge of everything production-related, so at the end of the day, the fact it happened falls on me 100 percent. It’s my responsibility and I accept it. Blame me for that. But that’s on me. Totally on me. I already called Israel Adesanya and apologized for it,” White admitted.

- Jamie Theodosi