South African mixed martial artist Dricus du Plessis is the first to admit he was no match for Khamzat Chimaev, who outwrestled Du Plessis to become the new UFC middleweight champion after his victory in Chicago, United States of America.
The judges scored it 50-44, 50-44, and 50-44 for Chimaev in the early hours of Sunday.
“At the end, I went for it and could almost taste the victory. He beat me fair and square, and I’ll be back and get my belt back,” reflected du Plessis in his post-bout interview.
“To everybody in South Africa, you all know this flag means the world to me. I am sorry to anyone I let down. I’ll be back stronger. South Africans, we rise and fight through adversity, and we will show the world that they still don’t know what we know.”
Du Plessis, 31, had reigned over the middleweight division since winning the belt from Sean Strickland in January last year. He was the first to submit Israel Adesanya in August last year and dominated a rematch with Strickland in February this year.
Against 31-year-old Chimaev, however, du Plessis was a shadow of himself.
It is Du Plessis’s first loss in the UFC, taking his overall MMA record to 23-3 and his record in the organisation to 9-1. Chimaev remains undefeated with a 15-0 overall record and 9-0 in the UFC.
