Tom Aspinall watched the UFC 319 event on Saturday and was impressed by the winner of the main event.
The UFC heavyweight champion is two months away from his first title defence against Ciryl Gane at UFC Abu Dhabi, and he may be joined on the card by the new middleweight champion, Khamzat Chimaev.
‘Borz’ beat Dricus Du Plessis by unanimous decision after five dominant rounds, where he grounded the now former champion to claim victory.
Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images
In the build-up and post-fight press conference, Chimaev has made clear his intentions of defending the belt at the next Abu Dhabi card, and the UFC 319 backup fighter wants to accept that challenge.
‘Easier said than done’ – Tom Aspinall reacts to Khamzat Chimaev’s ‘complete domination’ of Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319
He may be able to get back into the Octagon in quick time because he is not suffering from any injuries from the contest, as far as he knows.
But his performance on the night was near-perfect, and his win impressed Aspinall because of the grappling exchanges.
On his YouTube channel, the heavyweight explained what he would have done if he were in the position of Du Plessis.
He said: “If I was DDP, I’d be trying to look to put Khamzat on the back foot, but I would imagine now he’s starting to get tired. Both guys will be relatively tired, but DDP’s been carrying him for three rounds, so that’s more exhausting for DDP.
“I’d definitely be trying to get him on the back foot, keep him away from me, show him that I’m controlling the range here. He’s not just going to shoot in and take me down.
“But easier said than done when you’re fighting a guy like Khamzat. Khamzat is absolutely dominating him.”
His record-breaking landed strikes and over 20 minutes of control time made it one of the most dominant five-round performances by a challenger in a title fight.
Britain’s own provided his overall thoughts on the fight and acknowledged fan criticism of too much grappling, which was blasted by one UFC legend.
“I thought it was going to be a more exciting fight, first of all, but I love grappling anyway, so I enjoyed it. But I know there’s a lot of fans who probably think it’s like hugging him or whatever, but I personally really enjoyed it. Just complete domination from Khamzat,” he said.
“There was just one way of traffic for the full five rounds. Got a bit hairy in the last minute. DDP put some shots on him, but just didn’t have enough left in the tank, I don’t think, to do much damage. So, congratulations to Khamzat and team.”
Former Dricus Du Plessis opponent Israel Adesanya believes Khamzat Chimaev is a ‘mess to deal with’
This win also drew the attention of a former opponent of the South African in ex-middleweight king Israel Adesanya.
The 36-year-old lost to Du Plessis by submission in August last year, which has been part of a three-fight losing streak in the UFC.
On his Stylebender YouTube channel, he picked out the change in Chimaev’s game that makes him a mess to fight in the future.
Adesanya said: “He prepared very well. His gas tank held up. Not what I expected, but I’m glad he fixed his cardio, or improved his cardio to the point where he can go five rounds and just rag doll people. That’s a mess to deal with.
“He didn’t even slow down. He slowed down DDP. He slowed him down, which is very impressive. The division is in good hands.”
It is one of the most talent-rich divisions in the organisation currently, and with fighters like Adesanya still competing within the rankings, Khamzat could have a very entertaining run with the belt.