Du Plessis praised a deserving Khamzat<\/a> after the bout, but seemed disappointed not to have been able to stamp his authority at any point in the fight.<\/p>\n Following the win, Chimaev is now looking to become more active, after the Chicago main event broke his ten-month inactivity streak.<\/p>\n Ex-UFC star on Khamzat Chimaev\u2019s \u2018frustrating\u2019 dominant performance at UFC 319 against Dricus Du Plessis<\/p>\n However, a UFC legend blasted fans<\/a> who were somewhat disappointed by the performance of the Russian, who seemed to avoid finishing the champion during the fight.<\/p>\n While he may have landed over 500 strikes on his opponent, only 37 were significant, which made for tough viewing for fans of MMA striking.<\/p>\n Dan Hardy, the former British UFC<\/a> star, was one of those left feeling like the 31-year-old could have been more active or shown a different type of intent.<\/p>\n In his interview with Submission Radio, Hardy explained his experience of viewing the fight.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI kind of tweeted a couple of times when it was on, that it was a bit frustrating. There weren\u2019t many significant strikes landed. He was kind of tenderizing him and controlling him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was impressive from a control perspective, don\u2019t get me wrong. But of course, the main event of a pay-per-view, you kind of want to see a bit more intention to finish. That\u2019s what I would like to have seen.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what Khamzat\u2019s been all about. That\u2019s why people have been so excited about him, is because of how overly aggressive he is. It\u2019s scary to watch sometimes. It seemed a bit of a safer performance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Borz\u2019s\u2019 21 minutes and 40 seconds of control time broke the UFC middleweight record and showed that if experts had doubts over his gas tank during a five-round fight, then they had their answer.<\/p>\n \u2018The Outlaw\u2019 was not just critical of how the challenger won the belt, but was also left confused by the former champion\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe out of respect for Dricus and his strength and explosiveness and scrambling ability. But I also thought Dricus didn\u2019t seem unprepared for those positions,\u201d Hardy said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a weird thing for me. I was expecting him to be way more competitive on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n Ex-UFC star highlights the \u2018really problematic\u2019 middleweight contender who could trouble Khamzat Chimaev<\/p>\n While he may have passed the hurdle of beating the champion, Chimaev now has a long line of viable contenders waiting for their shot at the title.<\/p>\n![\"Khamzat](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2230524507-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Cooper Neill\/Zuffa LLC<\/p>\n