Dricus du Plessis suffered a devastating end to his title reign at UFC 319.
After successful title defenses against Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland following his crowning in early 2024, Du Plessis ran into the toughest challenge of his UFC career to date in Chicago on Saturday night.
Khamzat Chimaev dominated Du Plessis, with ‘Borz’ ultimately proving to be a hurdle too tall for ‘Stillknocks’ in the UFC 319 main event.
Du Plessis always proudly flew the South African flag as his country’s first UFC champion. While he will no doubt be disappointed to return home without the middleweight title, he seemingly won’t be short of supporters rallying behind him.
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South Africa’s sports minister backs Dricus du Plessis after ‘hard to watch’ UFC 319 setback
Du Plessis has been pushing for UFC South Africa to come to fruition, and talk from government ministers in recent times suggested it was a real possibility.
Whether or not that has taken a hit with his removal from the middleweight throne against Chimaev remains to be seen. For now, South Africa’s minister of sport, arts and culture does not appear concerned about that.
Instead, Gayton McKenzie took to social media and sent a supportive message to Du Plessis, praising the now-former champ for never giving up and suggesting he “almost had” Chimaev.
“Dricus du Plessis you made us proud as one of the great champions and we know you will be back,” he wrote on X.
“You faced a tough wrestler today but you will come back stronger. It was hard to watch but you never gave up, almost had him & you’ll always be a legend. Chin up, #noDNAjustRSA”
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Dricus du Plessis said Khamzat Chimaev was ‘like a blanket’
While Chimaev broke the UFC record for strikes landed in a single fight, the talking point from the UFC 319 main event was his total dominance and near-record success in the grappling department.
‘Borz’ achieved 21 minutes and 40 seconds of control time, leaving him below only Sean Sherk’s efforts against Hermes Franca in the all-time leaderboard.
Alongside an apology to his supporters back home, Du Plessis commented on Chimaev’s smothering game during his Octagon interview, comparing the Chechen star to a “blanket” on top of him.
“The man has incredible control on top,” Du Plessis told Joe Rogan. “He’s like a blanket; he always knew what your next move was going to be.
“At the end, I went for it and could almost taste that victory, but he beat me fair and square.
“He deserves it and thanks to all the fans, because without you guys, we don’t have a job,” Du Plessis added.
“Everyone in South Africa, I’m sorry anybody I let down. We’ll show the world that we’ll come back stronger than ever.”