Khamzat Chimaev destroys the champ after two insane elbow KO's rocked the UFC
The event had already witnessed two insane bouts on the undercard, with two spinning elbows leading to vicious knockouts, more on those below.
So anticipation was at a fever pitch for the main event between the undefeated Chimaev, who had won all 14 of his fights coming in and is currently fighting out of the United Arab Emirates, and reigning middleweight king du Plessis (23-3).
In the end it was a one-sided contest, with all three judges scoring it 50-44 in a complete domination for the challenger.
'I'm happy, happy always,' Chimaev said as some boos rained down. 'Dana (White), send my money brother.'
Du Plessis came in riding an 11-fight win streak including nine in the UFC, defending his title twice, but he was still the underdog against the sensational Russian.
The South African was known for his striking power, while Chimaev is all about take-downs, wrestling and quick finishes on the ground and that's exactly how the fight began.
Chimaev took just seconds to pull off a successful take-down in round one and it appeared the fight could be over barely before it began.
To his credit, the champion somehow managed to withstand the initial submission attempts, with the boisterous crowd soon growing restless due to the relative lack of action.
'The entire crowd is standing for our championship main event,' Jon Anik said in commentary on Fox Sports.
After round one, du Plessis's camp tried to talk a big game, stating 'that was his best, those punches didn't do anything'.
The South African also had a big grin on his face as he came out for round two, but was immediately under more pressure as the round got underway.
It took just 10 seconds for the Russian to pull off another take-down as the commentators stated du Plessis had attempted just four strikes to date, none of which had hit the mark.
'This is kind of crazy,' Joe Rogan said as Chimaev comfortably claimed another round, not allowing his opponent a second of space to fight his own fight.
'He's being completely dominated and he's exhausted,' Daniel Cormier said in the third round.
Rogan added: 'Man is he getting dominated. We are three rounds down and he has got nothing off.'
It continued with more of the same in the fourth and fifth rounds.
Du Plessis had some brief openings in the fifth round, with an attempted guillotine midway through the round and then another submission attempt late, but Chimaev was never in any real danger.
The Russian extinguished any threats to become a worthy champion of the middleweight division.
'The man has incredible control, it was just like a blanket,' the South African said afterwards.
'It wasn't a matter of strength, he wasn't that physical, it was just like he knew what your next move was going to be.
'In the end, I went for it, I could almost taste that victory, but he deserved it.
'I'll get my belt back, but for now he deserves it.'
Earlier, Lerone Murphy may have set up a title shot against Aussie champ Alexander Volkanovski after the English veteran destroyed newcomer Aaron Pico in Sunday's co-main event.
Late in the first round, Murphy landed a perfect spinning elbow to Pico's temple that knocked him out well before he hit the ground.
Pico took some time to regain consciousness and after the bout, the 34-year-old Pom called out Volkanovski.
'This sport's all about moments and I just created one,' he said.
'I needed something like this. I took the fight on three weeks' notice, I believed in myself, I knew the opportunity was there.
'I'm next in line, let's go Volkanovski.'
The Aussie veteran appeared happy to take the challenge, tweeting: 'See you in December.'
Murphy's shocking moment came directly after Carlos Prates ended Geoff Neal in similar fashion.
Prates' spinning elbow also landed perfectly with Cormier stating: 'Nasty, you heard the crack.'
UFC 319 results
Main card
Khamzat Chimaev def. Dricus du Plessis by unanimous decision for middleweight title
Lerone Murphy def. Aaron Pico via knockout; featherweight
Carlos Prates def. Geoff Neal via knockout; welterweight
Jared Cannonier vs Michael Page; middleweight
Tim Elliott def. Kai Asakura via submission; flyweight
Preliminary card
Baysangur Susurkaev def. Eric Nolan via submission; middleweight
Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gerald Meerschaert via TKO; middleweight
Loopy Godinez def. Jessica Andrade via unanimous decision; women's strawweight
Alexander Hernandez def. Chase Hooper via TKO; lightweight
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