SA's Dricus du Plessis seeks to outsmart Russia's Khamzat Chimaev in next UFC title bout

Daily Maverick

21-05-2025

South African UFC champion Dricus du Plessis' next title fight, scheduled for 17 August at UFC 319, will test his entire repertoire of skills.
Dricus du Plessis is preparing for his third Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title defence against undefeated Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 after federation president Dana White made the announcement last week.
It's a matchup that has been hotly anticipated since Du Plessis dismantled former champion Sean Strickland by unanimous decision at UFC 312 in February this year.
Du Plessis has been on a hot streak since entering the US fighting organisation in 2020, going undefeated in the nine times he has stepped into the octagon. He has only two losses in the 25 times he has fought under the banner of any mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation.
But Chechen wrestler-cum-MMA fighter Chimaev has an equally impressive resumé, having claimed eight out of eight wins in the UFC. One of the two will break their duck on 17 August at the United Centre in Chicago.
Most of Chimaev's fights came in the UFC welterweight division, having recently moved up to middleweight. He has had only two fights in the heavier division – against Kamaru Usman and Robert Whittaker – before getting the title shot.
Middleweight seems a more natural division for Chimaev, who was scheduled to fight Nate Diaz in the main event at UFC 279 in September 2022, but came into the weigh-in more than three kilograms overweight. Instead, he was placed in a bout with Kevin Holland at short notice at catchweight, who he submitted in the first round.
Wrestling credentials
Despite often going into fights as the underdog, Du Plessis and coach Morne Visser have a happy knack of out-strategising opponents in the octagon, in spite of his reputation as an unorthodox brawler.
The brains trust will need to be at its intelligent best if they are to overcome Chimaev, who has 12 finishes and 14 wins in the 14 MMA fights he has been in thus far. Six of those finishes have come by submissions, and the other six by knockouts.
Chimaev is a strong wrestler with his background on the mat. His stats in the UFC underline that, with an average of 2.77 submission attempts per fight compared with Du Plessis, who averages 0.73.
Du Plessis has proven more than capable of wrestling if need be, but Chimaev is a different challenge. This was exemplified when he broke Whittaker's jaw at UFC 308 after only three minutes and 34 seconds in the first round.
Russian champions
Chimaev grew up in Chechnya, which with Dagestan has become notorious for its formidable MMA fighters, particularly in the UFC.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, from Dagestan, is considered one of the best UFC fighters of all after putting a stop to a then prime Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in 2018. Nurmagomedov retired from the sport in 2021 after 29 wins from 29 fights. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame the following year.
Currently, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, a fellow Dagestani, is the top-ranked men's pound-for-pound fighter, according to the UFC's rankings.
Michael Lyubimov, a prominent MMA coach who has worked with many fighters from the Caucasus, including Nurmagomedov, said that when he first encounters athletes from the region upon their arrival in fight promotion organisations in the US, they are often already vastly experienced.
Lyubimov – who is general manager of the Jackson Wink MMA Academy in New Mexico, renowned for its production of MMA talent, says that many young fighters from the region take up fighting prompted by 'despair from a young age'.
'Back where they come from, there's absolutely nothing,' Lyubimov said in an interview with CNN. 'A lot of these guys that come here, I mean, they fought since they're like six years of age.'
'By the time they get to the UFC or obtain these big promotions or come to America, they have over 200 fights and stuff.
'There's no other option. There are cauliflower ears everywhere. It's just who they are. It's in the culture, engraved in them.'
Chimaev will seek to add his name to the ever-growing list of successful UFC title holders from the region. In his path is South Africa's first UFC champion, who has said he is willing to die in the octagon.