One former fighter doesn’t think Dricus du Plessis would need an expert to fix the holes in his game.
Du Plessis has been left analyzing what went wrong after having his undefeated UFC run and middleweight title reign brought to emphatic ends in Chicago earlier this month.
After successful defenses against both Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland, the South African was looking to get past his tallest hurdle to date in unbeaten phenom Khamzat Chimaev. Despite his pre-fight confidence, the champ ultimately failed in that goal, with Chimaev dominating Du Plessis at UFC 319.
‘Stillknocks’ was taken down at will and outclassed for most of the five-round main event, as Chimaev racked up over 21 minutes of control time to almost break a record that has stood since 2007.
With that in mind, it’s obvious what Du Plessis must improve for his return, and Chael Sonnen is willing to offer some helping hands — albeit small ones…
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Chael Sonnen says Dricus du Plessis could learn a thing or two from his kid
Du Plessis’ lack of resistance on the ground and failure to return to his feet have been widely criticized since the UFC 319 main event, especially after he and his team welcomed grappling exchanges during fight week.
Sonnen, a credentialed wrestler, reacted to the South African’s struggles in a video on his YouTube channel. He explained that while the technique for countering double-leg takedowns and getting up off the ground appears complex, the approach is actually simple.
So simple, in fact, that ‘The Bad Guy’ thinks his 10-year-old son could demonstrate it to the now-former middleweight champion.
“You’re talking about one move, one technique — a double-leg takedown,” Sonnen said.
“Dricus and his inability to solve the Chimaev problem is not something I have gained any confidence in over the last few days. … Not only are they (Du Plessis’ team) not moving in the direction of being able to solve this problem, they don’t even know what the problem is!
“That part brings me a little bit of concern,” Sonnen continued. “The idea of having to go out and work with high-level wrestlers…it’s a double-leg takedown! It’s the move that a non-wrestler will know to do on his first day of practice with no training.
“Stopping that requires an immense amount of work…(but) one of the colossal wastes of time that I’ve ever been through is a wrestling practice. They’re two hours long and you’d be stunned how little wrestling they do.
“To stomp a double-leg, again, from a technical standpoint, is very easy to do,” Sonnen added, before breaking down the exact technique. “It will require the most effort and energy (in MMA), but the technique is easy.
“You don’t need a world or Olympic champion to learn those positions. My son is 10, he can do them both. I will make him available if you think it will help.”
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Another UFC legend has told Dricus du Plessis to change divisions
While Sonnen wants to see wrestling improvements from Du Plessis, one of the American legend’s fellow former UFC fighters has suggested a more drastic course of action.
During an episode of his Jaxxon Podcast, Quinton Jackson advised Du Plessis to leave middleweight. But while the South African has teased a future light heavyweight venture, ‘Rampage’ has a different division in mind.
“He just got destroyed. DDP shouldn’t even say the word ‘Re’ or ‘Match’ in the same f—— sentence in an interview, with all due respect,” Jackson said.
“DDP needs to probably go to a different weight class. He probably should drop down in weight, he’s stuck,” he added.