South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis was handed a wrestling lesson in a record one-sided title loss at UFC 319 on Sunday morning (SA time).
Du Plessis, 31, relinquished his UFC middleweight title in a lop-sided loss to Khamzat Chimaev.
All three judges scored the fight 50-44 – and many were of the opinion that the margin could easily have been wider.
Chimaev landed a UFC record number of 529 (out of 567) total strikes and takedowns (12 out of 17 attempted) for a middleweight title fight.
That equates to a strike every three seconds of the 25-minute bout.
Dricus du Plessis dropped to 23-3 in his career, while Khamzat Chimaev remained undefeated, improving to 15-0.
| Dricus du Plessis | Khamzat Chimaev | |
| 0 | Knockdowns | 0 |
| 45/68 (66.2%) | Total strikes | 529/567 (93.3%) |
| 13/29 (44.8%) | Significant strikes | 37/47 (78.7%) |
| 1/1 (100%) | Takedowns | 12/17 (70.6%) |
| 1 | Submission attempts | 0 |
UFC 319 fight card results
- Khamzat Chimaev def. Dricus du Plessis (c) via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44)
- Lerone Murphy def. Aaron Pico via first-round knockout (elbow)
- Carlos Prates def. Geoff Neal via first-round knockout (elbow)
- Michael Page def. Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Tim Elliott def. Kai Asakura via second-round submission (guillotine choke)
- Baisangur Susurkaev def. Eric Nolan via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)
- Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gerald Meerschaert via first-round TKO (punches)
- Loopy Godinez def. Jessica Andrade via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Alexander Hernandez def. Chase Hooper via first-round knockout (punches)
- Drakkar Klose def. Edson Barboza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29)
- Karine Silva def. Dione Barbosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Joseph Morales def. Alibi Idiris via second-round submission (triangle choke)
Were you surprised by the performance from Dricus du Plessis?
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