I cannot be the only one disappointed in Dricus Du Plessis and his team’s preparation for Khamzat Chimaev and UFC 319.
Historically, “Stillknocks” and company have done an excellent job of bringing unique looks to different match ups, adjusting their strategy as needed based on the task at hand. It’s part of what made “DDP” such an interesting champion: he would blend the bizarre with the intelligent in a way that made his victories almost surreal in nature.
Their strategy — ill-advised as it turned out to be — against Chimaev was simple enough. Du Plessis clearly trained very hard to avoid Chimaev’s strangles and prolong the fight. “Borz” never came anywhere close to a submission, and this is a man who has submitted almost everyone he’s faced instantaneously. The theory was that if Du Plessis simply extended the fight into later rounds, Chimaev would fade, and the South African would take over.
On its own, I don’t have a problem with the general concept. In fact, I wrote something similar in the lead up. However, that’s only about 25% of the game plan. There is no use weathering the storm if the opponent isn’t being forced to work. Khamzat slowed down against Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman because he was constantly scrambling, always pushing himself in order to hold onto his top position.
Chimaev didn’t have to work to maintain position against Du Plessis. From side control or the rear waist lock, he could just sag on “DDP” indefinitely, keeping the ref (mostly) away with lots of pitter-patter punches. He didn’t do much damage or threaten the finish, but he didn’t have to work hard either. Wrestling is grueling; sitting on somebody is easy. The way Du Plessis defended for most of this fight was never going to exhaust Chimaev, so survival alone did nothing to aid Du Plessis’ odds.
The lack of wrestling fundamentals on display here was a bit shocking. Du Plessis tried to explode to his feet countless times, but he never separated the hands and isolated one first. That’s scholastic wrestling 101, and the Middleweight champion of the world barely tried to do so? Similarly, Du Plessis utterly failed to stuff the head while defending takedowns. He failed to crank on overhooks when Chimaev circled around him. He didn’t bend his knees from his kickboxing stance in anticipation of takedowns.
For the first time, he was not prepared for the challenge.
Du Plessis didn’t have to do anything complicated to force Chimaev to work harder, he just needed a bit more refinement and more chance-taking. What’s absurd about the whole thing is that even a woefully prepared Du Plessis still nearly managed to implement his meme magic for the last-second comeback surge! Imagine if he was wrestling at an even reasonably competent level!
This match up revealed the limitations of Du Plessis’ South African training. A fighter who came up through one of the major gyms in the US or Europe would not be making these mistakes on the canvas. There has been nobody good enough in his wrestling room to punish Du Plessis for his lack of fundamentals, and Khamzat just made him pay for that lack of quality training.
The bright side is Du Plessis has resources behind him. Training in South Africa is a source of pride for “Stillknocks,” and he doesn’t have to leave necessarily. What Du Plessis does have to do — what he and his coaches should have done six months ago! — is bring in AT LEAST one world-class wrestler of a similar size to be his daily coach and training partner. Du Plessis should have an Olympian beside him on the mat, a wrestler and athlete good enough to contain his athleticism and punish his mistakes.
At 31 years of age, Du Plessis’ career is far from over. If he takes the time to work on his wrestling flaws, he can still be a threat to every 185-pounder in the world, including the man who just dominated him.
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