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

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

 

SEAN STRICKLAND OCTAGON INTERVIEW

SEAN STRICKLAND THOUGHT FIGHTING ADESANYA WOULD BE DIFFICULT |

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS - STRICKLAND STUNS ADESANYA TO SNATCH UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT CROWN

USA TODAY Sports 

Underdog Sean Strickland pulled off a stunning upset to defeat Israel Adesanya and claim the UFC middleweight title at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday, winning by unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards after an enthralling five-round battle.

American Strickland taunted Adesanya in the closing seconds of the final frame, confident of victory after 25 minutes of stalking his opponent, defending brilliantly and using his boxing to force Adesanya to fight off the back foot.

Adesanya, who has ruled the roost as middleweight champ for most of the last four years, failed to find a way to break Strickland down and the 34-year-old Nigerian was caught several times by stiff jabs from Strickland that slowed him down.