Khamzat Chimaev was fully dominant in his victory over Dricus du Plessis to turn into middleweight champion at UFC 319 however he additionally confronted criticism for not taking extra dangers and as an alternative principally simply counting on his wrestling for takedowns and management time to win the struggle.
Through the 25 minute struggle, Chimaev scored 12 takedowns, racked up over 21 minutes of management time and landed a exceptional 529 strikes. He finally gained a lopsided resolution however Chimaev solely threatened a possible end a few occasions, notably when he had du Plessis locked up within the crucifix place as he rained down punches and elbows.
UFC legend Matt Brown, who was entrance and heart for the fights in Chicago, agrees that Chimaev didn’t precisely placed on essentially the most thrilling efficiency however neither did one of the crucial adorned champions in MMA historical past who can also be extensively thought-about an all-time nice.
“It was boring,” Brown mentioned on the most recent episode of The Fighter vs. The Author. “[Georges St-Pierre] had plenty of boring fights. However we don’t actually discuss how boring GSP was will we? We discuss how dominant he was. That’s the sport that we’re taking part in. You possibly can’t take something away from Khamzat for what he did. It’s cool watching him develop.
“I feel we see plenty of these wrestlers come into MMA … we see wrestlers assume they’re strikers. I feel Khamzat went via that section slightly bit with [Gilbert] Burns and [Kamaru] Usman after which he was like ‘wait a minute, I’m the most effective wrestler right here, what am I doing? And received again to it. He received a championship out of it.”
Brown argues that every one nice champion have endured boring fights however that additionally speaks to technique and stylistic matchups.
In Chimaev’s case, he repeatedly took down du Plessis with little resistance after which successfully bullied him across the cage for the higher a part of 25 minutes. Fairly than danger a possible comeback from the now former champion, Chimaev simply rag dolled du Plessis and by no means gave him any room to breathe.
It could not have been essentially the most memorable efficiency however Brown additionally acknowledges that wrestling and takedowns are a part of MMA, which is what Chimaev used so successfully.
“Jon [Jones] had boring fights. GSP had boring fights. [Matt] Hughes had boring fights,” Brown mentioned. “Nearly all of champions do have boring fights, it’s simply a part of the sport. You possibly can’t anticipate to only have thrilling fights each time and be a longtime champion. It’s not a very good technique for competing, particularly when you have got the choice of taking guys down.
“This isn’t GLORY. This isn’t Lumpinee Stadium. You’ve the choice to take a man down, management him, put him on his again and never enable him to place you in danger.”
That mentioned, Brown understands the argument that Chimaev performed it secure after taking du Plessis down repeatedly however by no means actually threatening with a end.
Chimaev did lock down du Plessis within the crucifix on a couple of events the place he doubtless dished out essentially the most punishment however he didn’t get the end. He additionally noticed a gap for a couple of submission makes an attempt however Chimaev clearly valued locking du Plessis down on the bottom slightly than risking the place.
“We will’t fault him for that,” Brown mentioned. “It’s really easy to say after we’re sitting out right here. He’s the one feeling issues and he’s the one sensing DDP. Look, DDP is a troublesome son of a b*tch. He’s not a man you need to be taking a bunch of dangers with. I assumed Khamzat fought very intelligently. I do really feel like, once more, watching from the skin, I really feel like he may have accomplished extra. That’s such armchair quarterbacking. He gained principally a 10-8 spherical most likely three or 4 rounds in a world championship struggle. Do you actually need to criticize that?
“However on the similar time, I do get the criticism as a result of we’re saying he’s that man. He sort of goes out and simply does what he has to, to win, which is what you’re speculated to do. I wouldn’t say an argument however I used to be sort of explaining that to a number of the individuals round [saying] ‘it’s boring.’ I’m like guys, it is a prize struggle and he’s going to win the prize. That’s his object of this struggle is to win the prize. To not make you cheerful since you need to see blood.”
So far as the longer term goes, Brown concedes that it’s going to take one thing particular to dethrone Chimaev now that he has the title.
It’s not an unimaginable job however Chimaev’s wrestling and management on the bottom are going to be awfully onerous to counter, which is admittedly no completely different from what St-Pierre did in lots of his greatest title defenses.
Add to that, Brown believes that Chimaev continues to be including new weapons to his arsenal and that evolution would possibly ultimately result in extra thrilling finishes like he’s had all through his UFC profession.
“Till somebody solves his wrestling puzzle, I’m undecided the way you’re going to beat him,” Brown mentioned. “Somebody’s going to have to present him a tough time taking them down the place he’s compelled to face. Then it’s going to be a detailed struggle on the ft as a result of I don’t assume Khamzat goes to be a simple man to beat on the ft both. As boring as this struggle was — it was boring, I completely, totally admit that — as boring because it was, watching his development, his ceiling is completely as much as the celebrities.
“It’s very cool to look at him progress. He’s not going to lose that wrestling. I’m positive that’s who he’s at all times going to be but when in some unspecified time in the future he come throughout a Yoel Romero kind and he’s compelled to remain on the ft, I feel it’s going to be thrilling to look at and thrilling to see how that performs out.”
