On Saturday night at UFC 319, Dricus du Plessis got dominated for 25 solid minutes by Khamzat Chimaev. The challenger landed 12 takedowns and recorded 549 strikes across five rounds, earning 44-50 scores from all three judges en route to taking the middleweight title.
When the only debate regarding the fight is whether Khamzat deserved more 10-8 rounds, you know it was a beatdown … one that UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes could keep du Plessis out of title contention so long as Chimaev holds the belt.
“For Dricus to come back from that and bridge the gap between him and Khamzat, that is a tall task,” Rogan said following the main event. “It’s a tall task because that kind of dominance, that kind of grappling dominance, was not just a level. It was multiple levels, and it just didn’t seem like he had any answer for that.”
“I don’t know who he brought in to train with him, but clearly he didn’t bring in anybody that had that kind of skill.”
While many expect we’re about to see a long Khamzat reign, Rogan suggested there might be a man with the skills to counter Chimaev’s wrestling in the wings.
“Reinier de Ridder in particular, given his ability to grapple on the ground and also his ability to land shots standing,” Rogan said. “His toughness, his experience. He throws those combinations with that long lead-in knee. He’s interesting.”
De Ridder is a former ONE middleweight champion and has already gone 4-0 since his debut with the UFC in November 2024. In May he took out three time NCAA Division I champion Bo Nickal, showing he knows how to handle wrestlers.