Welcome to the Khamzat Chimaev Era!
While there were no such declarations from Joe Rogan at the close of Saturday night’s UFC 319 pay-per-view at United Center in Chicago, and history has taught us to temper our bold proclamations about the forthcoming reign of newly minted champions, Chimaev did complete the ascent many forecasted for him upon his arrival in the UFC, wrestling the middleweight title away from Dricus Du Plessis in a dominant five-round effort.
The undefeated standout from Chechnya shot for his first takedown less than 10 seconds into the fight, and simply repeated that approach each round, stapling Du Plessis to the canvas with a mounted crucifix that returned multiple times throughout the contest. If he didn’t have Du Plessis’s shoulders pinned to the mat, Chimaev was working from a back waist lock, hammering knees into the South African’s buttocks, quads, and side body, muting his movement and stifling any attempts at offence that he made.
Du Plessis, to his credit, never stopped believing in his ability to make something happen and pushed hard when a window of opportunity opened late in the fight, but he was unable to find a finish and instead had to watch as the title he fought so hard to earn and defend made its way to Chimaev’s waist.
With a new man on the middleweight throne and plenty of options to consider, let’s figure out what could be next for Chimaev, Du Plessis, and the rest of the UFC 319 standouts.
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FIRST UP: REINIER DE RIDDER
This may not be the most popular pick to be Chimaev’s first title challenger, but there is sound logic and better optics when it comes to bestowing a championship opportunity on the surging Dutch fighter instead of waiting to see how things shake out in Paris next month between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho.
Close fight or not, de Ridder is coming off a victory over former champion Robert Whittaker, who has long been the gatekeeper to title contention.
Chimaev earned his shot by trouncing “The Reaper” last October, as did Du Plessis prior his run as champ. De Ridder debuted in the UFC a month after Chimaev beat Whittaker, and has posted four wins in the subsequent 10 months, culminating in his narrow split decision win over Whittaker at the end of July. He’s got more buzz and momentum at the moment than his fellow hopefuls, presents as an intriguing option from a grappling standpoint, and was a two-weight world champion under the ONE Championship banner, venturing up to light heavyweight to win there too.
He’s a big dude with crafty grappling and just enough striking to keep you honest, plus he seems ready to fight at the drop of a hat, which means potentially getting another middleweight title fight in either before the year is out or in the first quarter of 2025, which is a plus for the UFC.
As much as Imavov and Borralho have earned their respective places in the conversation, you can have the winner of that contest positioned as the No. 1 contender and next option should an injury befall “The Dutch Knight” or after that championship encounter. Unless one of them earns a highlight reel victory in Paris, I think you go with the guy that has more juice right now and offers more threats, on paper, than anyone else and have the Parisienne pair waiting in the wings.
And I know what you’re thinking, “What about Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez?”
Well…
DU PLESSIS VS. HERNANDEZ SOUNDS DELIGHTFUL
Provided he’s able to return in a timely fashion, I think the consensus opinion around what to do next with Du Plessis will be to circle him into a matchup with either the UFC Paris winner or have a third fight with Sean Strickland, and neither option is particularly appealing to me.
Neither Imavov nor Borralho should have to do any more than beat the guy standing across from them at Accor Arena in early September before challenging for championship gold, and Strickland still hasn’t fought since Du Plessis busted him up earlier this year, so doing that again straight away doesn’t make any sense.
Hernandez showed he’s ready for more with his mauling and finish of Roman Dolidze earlier in August and presents interesting challenges for anyone in the division, including Du Plessis. At the same time, he needs a marquee win against someone that contrarians can’t pick apart in order to further delay his opportunity should he get another win, and there are few less assailable competitors in the division than someone that just held the title for the previous 19 months and successfully defended it twice.
It’s the kind of matchup that potentially benefits both guys, as Du Plessis can show he’s a tier above by halting Hernandez’s run, while “Fluffy” could even still gain traction if he runs close with “Stillknocks” and gets beaten.
Hernandez is a main event fighter and — with all due respect — deserves more than a date with ex-titleholders like Strickland or Israel Adesanya or having to fight backwards in the division because everyone else is booked. Plus, it’s OK to have a vanquished champion to need more than one win before getting another kick at the can, especially when their loss was as one-sided as Saturday was for Du Plessis, so set them up together, give them five rounds to work, and let’s see where we stand when the smoke clears.
IT’S LERONE MURPHY’S TIME
Even if you don’t want to accept featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski’s post-fight tweet about meeting Murphy in December as gospel, “The Miracle” has certainly done all he needs to merit a championship opportunity after flattening Aaron Pico at UFC 319.
First and foremost, performances like that have to elevate your standing and be something the promotion capitalizes on or else it ends up feeling like a missed opportunity. Murphy is never going to be more exciting, more intriguing to people than right now, and with no one else currently queued up to share the Octagon with Volk later this year, hustling the Manchester man into that position is an easy, intriguing solution.
Secondly, he’s won nine straight fights, is unbeaten in 10 UFC appearances, and stands at 17-0-1 for his career; do you really need to see more from him?
I get that Murphy isn’t a big talker and doesn’t have a massive social media presence, which makes him a bit of a mystery to fans and some media members, but he’s beaten Edson Barboza, Dan Ige, Josh Emmett, and now Pico in succession, and shouldn’t have to still do more in order to garner an opportunity. Sending Pico to the Shadow Realm silences any of the “he’s just a decision fighter” talk and should land him in a title fight at the end of the year or early in 2026.
REAL QUICK FOR ALL THE OTHER WINNERS
Carlos Prates deserves a top-10 opponent after stopping Geoff Neal in spectacular fashion. Maybe see if Joaquin Buckley wants to make the trip to Rio later this year?
Michael “Venom” Page said he’d be honoured to face Prates in Brazil, but I’d rather see “MVP” stay at middleweight and headline a five-round farewell fight with Israel Adesanya if “The Last Stylebender” was keen.
Tim Elliott looked at his awkward best on Saturday subbing out Kai Asakura. Steve Erceg just earned a hard-fought win and they now feel like a match made in heaven as we try to figure out how the flyweight division lines up.
Baisangur Susurkaev did stop Eric Nolan to complete an impressive week, but there were challenges. Get him in there with a veteran like Cesar Almeida next and let’s see how he manages before crowning him “the next big thing” in the middleweight division.
Michal Oleksiejczuk is 2-0 since joining forces with the Fighting Nerds after stopping Gerald Meerschaert on Saturday. He asked for a date with Marvin Vettori and that feels perfect to me.
Loopy Godinez earned the biggest win of her career, out-lasting ex-champ Jessica Andrade. Drop her in with Iasmin Lucindo, who just beat Angela Hill, and see which one can show they’re ready to start facing top-five competition.
Alexander Hernandez has won three straight and each of his last four lightweight appearances. A date with someone in the lower third of the Top 15 makes sense, whether it’s Grant Dawson or Joel Alvarez.
You could make the same argument for Drakkar Klose after he out-hustled Edson Barboza, but a more veteran pairing with someone like Renato Moicano feels like a much better fit to me. Plus, he recently fought Alvarez and it did not go well.
Fans and the broadcast team didn’t like Karine Silva rightfully getting the nod over Dione Barbosa, but she’s back in the win column and profiles as a great opponent for Wang Cong next.
And lastly, shouts to Joseph Morales for earning his way back into the UFC by winning The Ultimate Fighter 33 flyweight tournament. It doesn’t have to be a slow build with the 30-year-old UFC vet, so why not line him up opposite Matt Schnell and see what happens?
from Sportsnet.ca
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