UFC 319: Du Plessis vs Chimaev - Aug 16 ??

[wandshogun09]

[Zebra Kid Mark]

Very stacked main card. 

I am completely 50/50 on the main event, I am leaning towards Khamzat winning but I have always bet against DDP and have always been wrong, so I have no idea how this fight goes.

The rest of the card is great too.

I like Pico but I am very surprised at his placement, he hasn't achieved half of what other ex Bellator people got when they joined the UFC, and he gets thrown straight into the co-main spot against a top person.

The list below all did far more than him yet didn't get this kind of treatment.

Pitbul
Patchy Mix
MVP

Only Chandler before him has got the same sort of treatment but I think that was because Chandler was one of the first to make the jump. I do like him though and I am interested to see how he does.

[wandshogun09]

Gone DDP, Murphy and Neal in the poll but seriously could see any of them going the other way. I think all five fights on the main card here are almost coin flips to me.

While I’m here, what a picture this is…

[Gooner]

Chimaev to win. It feels like for ages now he is msnt to be the man in this sport, now is his moment to shine.  

[Panhead]

Genuinely 50/50 on the main event, but I'm going with the world's best worst fighter, DDP, to edge it. 

[Kamaras-Tash]

Guessing everyone is still asleep after the main event? 

[Bus Surfer]

Whilst it was absolute one way traffic, I thoroughly enjoyed the main event. DDP really had no answer for the grappling,  but I was glued to the TV to see if Khamzat would fade in any way, or if DDP could do anything to change the fight at all. 

Can't be upset when leading into it we had back to back spectacular spinning elbow knockouts. Very decent show on the whole. 

The PFL-ator curse continues and Murphy might have just walked himself into a title fight with Volkanowski off the bat of that. 

Great to see Prates back on track also. The guy is a star. 

 

[JakeRobertsParoleOfficer]

Well!!!

For a legit 50/50 that's about as one sided as it gets for a distance fight.

Genuinely thought DDP would take this, even with Chimaevs credentials!!

In many ways reminded me of the MMA equivalent of Lacy vs Calzaghe!! 

Wouldn't call it a miss match as it went the distance and wasn't a blowout but even so!!!!

As for the Pico vs Murphy, I just don't get Pico???

10 years ago he was supposed to be 'The one' signing Nike deals as a kid, heavily backed and then he gets choked out on his debut, then barring an injury gets sparked a few more times and just been sparked on his UFC debut.

Hes still only 28 but I just don't see it panning out. Not sure why UFC signed him

 

 

 

[Dai]

Pico never seems to be in a dull fight, so for that alone he should be in the UFC. 

 

Scarily great performance from Khamzat. Domination like we have rarely seen in a title fight. Didnt find it boring at all, as for the entire fight you felt like it was not far away from a submission, and/or you were rooting for DDP to escape and make a contest of it. Im just itching now to see Khamzat on the back foot or in a slight bit of trouble, just to see how he deals with it. 

 

Top 3 fights were great. Even MVP didnt stink out the joint, which is a bonus. 

[Egg Shen]

The main event has split opinion but i found it intriguing and entertaining. It helps that it's Khamzat fighting that way, not a lot of guys would get away with a performance like that.

I do actually like the matchups available to him now, De Ridder and Hernandez are aggressive grapplers so they present a much different type of challenge. If Chimaev turns around quick one of those two may get the call ahead of Imavov or Borralho.

[wandshogun09]

I seem to be in the minority here but I found the main event boring. Maybe ‘boring’ is a tad harsh but it was definitely frustrating to watch for me.

Khamzat got it done though. Finally champ. When he first burst onto the scene in the UFC in 2020 I think the feeling was that he’d probably be champ or at least fight for the belt by 2021/22ish. It’s taken five years but he got there in the end. And although I found it dull to watch, it’s not a knock on Khamzat’s performance itself. He was about as dominant as it gets without finding a finish. And he got five rounds in and won a decision! I don’t think anyone was predicting that. All the stuff I read was basically either ‘Khamzat by first round demolition’ or ‘Khamzat fades, DDP takes over and wins late or on points’. I don’t think a single soul called Khamzat by decision. So this went some of the way to answering one of those long standing questions on Khamzat, I guess. But even then, I don’t think this means he’s erased all doubts on his gas tank because DDP really didn’t make him work hard to the point his cardio would take a big hit. But yeah, this wasn’t anything like the fight I expected. Khamzat was impressive but seemed content to mostly coast, would rarely posture up to actually attack a submission or drop meaningful ground and pound. And DDP had no answers for anything. I put more of the blame for how the fight turned out on DDP than I do Khamzat. It genuinely seemed like DDP came in relying on Khamzat gassing, but then he didn’t really do anything to force Khamzat to tire out. And he didn’t seem to have any idea how to even begin to defend the takedowns. It honestly felt like he thought he could just brute strength his way out of it. We saw how that worked out for him. Yeah wasn’t really a fan of this. It was kind of edge of the seat just because we’ve seen what both can do in the past. And DDP did have that one little moment in the last round where he had Khamzat’s back. But overall, not a lot happened. The stats reflected that as well.

37 significant strikes out of 529 over the course of the fight for Khamzat. And only THIRTEEN overall for DDP in the whole fight! That’s gotta be some kind of record. Shamrock vs Severn 2 and Esparza vs Namajunas 2 probably had even less but there’s not likely to be many more title fights with that low output. Thirteen FFS.

For all that talk though, some of the backlash I’ve seen has been a bit silly. People talking like Khamzat’s some typically boring fighter now when this was the first time he’s had anything like a dull fight. And stuff like people going ‘did DDP even train wrestling?’ Like he was ever gonna close a gap that big in one training camp? MMA fans seem to think training camps are some magic thing where you can literally just level up your stats like a video game in a handful of training sessions. It’s comical. I had no idea how the fight was gonna go beforehand but watching it, it’s crystal clear that DDP is so far behind, light years behind, Khamzat in the wrestling department. I knew Khamzat would have the advantage there but I didn’t think it’d be that bad. One of those fights where when it ends you just don’t see any point in a rematch. Maybe it’ll happen down the road if circumstances dictate it, but as of right now, it seems utterly pointless. Feels like if they fight 10 times, Khamzat wins 9 of them like this.

Probably the Imavov vs Borralho winner for Khamzat next. That fight is coming in a couple of weeks on the Paris card (thread coming soon) so the timing works out. Wouldn’t be at all against Fluffy or De Ridder sneaking in there first though. There’ll be better to come from Khamzat as champ I think. It’s nice that he’s at least got a bunch of fresh contenders to deal with there and a couple of them could be interesting. So yeah, I wasn’t in love with this fight but I'm looking forward to seeing what Khamzat can do now as champ.

I don’t think anyone expected Murphy vs Pico to end anything like that. Fuck me. Like a lot of fights on this card, I really wasn’t sure how this was gonna play out but I was favouring Murphy just based on him being more tested and I thought he’d probably be able to use Pico’s aggression against him to outpoint him. Well he did use Pico’s aggression against him anyway…

Absolute disaster for Pico that. He’ll be back, I’ve got no doubts he’ll have some fun fights and he’ll probably have some good wins. But as exciting and dangerous as he can be, it really seems like he’s not evolved or tightened up his game or really learned the lessons from his previous losses in all these years since. He came out immediately on the attack and, while he looked good, within the first minute or so he’d already been clipped with a counter and nearly got himself caught in a choke. Then he was so focused on pushing the pace and constantly coming forward that he got whacked with a knee coming in. The whole time these warning signs were mostly being ignored by Rogan because Pico was the aggressor. Then Murphy put him to bed with that elbow and it was a wrap. Incredible stuff from Murphy. And just what the doctor ordered. He’s been compared to Leon Edwards a fair bit and I think most felt like he’d be one of those guys who would only get a title shot if the UFC had no other options. He needed something spectacular and this was absolutely it. He took the fight on short notice, which in itself might’ve earned him some brownie points with the UFC, but the way he put Pico away here should have cemented him as the next in line now. The champ seems to agree…

I’m in. It’s not a blockbuster but the Featherweight division is in a kind of transition period now with Topuria and Holloway moving up, Lopes just recently losing to Volk etc. The title picture needed something to shake it up and this’ll do for now. All signs seemed to be pointing towards Volk vs Evloev next but Evloev must be out a while. And even if he wasn’t, I think this KO from Murphy would’ve seen him leapfrog him anyway. Not sure what’s next for Pico but hopefully he takes a break after that knockout. The elbow itself was bad enough but his head bounced off the canvas as well. Another spell on the bench isn’t ideal considering he was coming off a layoff here but you don’t wanna be rushing back after a KO like that. Plenty of fun matchups to make with him at 145 whenever he’s ready. I can’t see him ever putting it all together to the point he’s winning UFC gold though. Just seems like he’s never gonna be able to reign in the aggression. It’ll make for entertaining fights but it also probably means him getting ironed out every third fight.

Carlos Prates doing the same to Geoff Neal in the previous fight was nuts…

Christ. I picked Neal going in. Feel foolish now but I honestly felt like this was almost 50/50 and I felt like Neal had a good shot at catching him. Wrong. Devastating knockout. The sound it made on the connection was sickening as well. A strike like that, making a sound like that, and landing on the temple is some scary shit. Hopefully Neal’s OK because it was a bad one. Prates looked good here though. Exactly the kind of win and performance he needed coming off the Ian Garry loss. This has put him right back on track. Glad they’re putting him on the Rio card in October. That’s the show being headlined by Oliveira vs Fiziev. I think Prates against a decent opponent will be ideal as co-main on that one. Can’t see them doing the Leon Edwards fight but who knows?

MVP vs Cannonier was alright. Not a barnburner or anything but the most watchable fight MVP’s had in the UFC so far for me. That’s not saying much though. Still can’t be doing with him. Not much to say about this. It had its moments but I never come out of MVP fights excited about seeing him again. And some of the fights I’m seeing people suggest for him like Adesanya and Strickland sound like almost guaranteed stinkers to me. Seen a bit of talk of MVP vs Prates on that Rio card. That’s a bit better but, even then, I don’t wanna see an exciting fighter like Prates dragged into a dance and taunt fest either.

Tim Elliott vs Kai Asakura was a solid little main card opener. It’s just not happening for Asakura in the UFC is it? This was one of those coin flip fights on the card for me because both had a clear advantage depending on where the fight went. Asakura looked a threat whenever they were striking but Elliott’s awkward on the feet and you got the sense that if he could get the fight to the ground it’d be a matter of time. Didn’t take him long to find the choke once they were on the mat. Really nice win for Elliott, especially at 38 and after a long layoff.

Khamzat’s mate Baisangur Susurkaev looked pretty good. Padded record aside, he looks like he’s actually got some legitimate potential. Time will tell and we’ll need to see him against more proven opposition but he passed the eye test here. Could do without all the pissing about and showboating though. Hopefully Eric Nolan gets another shot as well. A lot is being made of Susurkaev taking this fight on four days notice but Nolan did as well and he had his moment at the end of the first round here when he had Susurkaev on jelly legs. Give him another fight with an actual training camp.

Man, Michal Oleksiejczuk chinning our Gerald in a round was rough to watch. It’s always on the cards when Oleksiejczuk fights, he’s always been heavy handed and dangerous early. But I really thought this was gonna be Meerschaert’s fight to lose. And sadly, lose he did. If he could’ve got through that early barrage I think he would’ve absolutely had his way in the grappling and found the sub somewhere along the line but I guess I overestimated his ability to weather the storm in this one.

Loopy Godinez beat Jessica Andrade comfortably. Sadly I think it’s kind of what everyone expected. I like Loopy but Andrade’s been one of the most entertaining fighters in the women’s game for years so it’s a shame to see her getting shut down like this. She looks about done to me. She won’t retire. I know that. She’s only 33 and you know most fighters are gonna think they’ve still got one last run in them at that age. No matter how bleak it’s looking. I don’t know though. She’s never been the most consistent but she’s just looked pretty demoralised and flat in recent fights to me. Like the old ‘eye of the tiger’ is gone or something. There were little spells of the old aggression but she just doesn’t look quite at the races to me lately. Loopy’s style is one that probably always would’ve given her problems though.

Wasn’t happy with how the Alex Hernandez vs Chase Hooper fight ended.

That’s Chase’s little Lightweight streak well and truly derailed. Not like I ever expected him to go on a run at the title or anything but I hoped he’d at least get further than this knob. The way he lost made it even worse. Hernandez is so hit and miss so to get done in a round by him like this was shite. Chase is still only 25, it’s not the end of the world. But this felt like it should be a stepping stone for him and he not only tripped on the stone, he’s face planted into a pile of dogshit.

Sad to see Edson Barboza lose again as well. Really seems to me like he just doesn’t have it anymore. Drakkar Klose is alright but he’s definitely a guy I’d have fancied Barboza at his best to beat without too much hassle. To not just lose but also get wobbled a couple of times by Klose, not a good sign. 



Yeah good show on the whole but it felt like a bit of a downer to me just because the main event didn’t match the chaos I’d imagined and hoped it’d be and that four fight stretch on the prelims where Barboza, Hooper, Andrade and Meerschaert lost in consecutive fights was fucking jarring. The back-to-back spinning elbow KOs were sweet though.

Edited August 19, 2025 by wandshogun09

[jimufctna24]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

So this went some of the way to answering one of those long standing questions on Khamzat, I guess. But even then, I don’t think this means he’s erased all doubts on his gas tank because DDP really didn’t make him work hard to the point his cardio would take a big hit. But yeah, this wasn’t anything like the fight I expected. Khamzat was impressive but seemed content to mostly coast, would rarely posture up to actually attack a submission or drop meaningful ground and pound. And DDP had no answers for anything. I put more of the blame for how the fight turned out on DDP than I do Khamzat. It genuinely seemed like DDP came in relying on Khamzat gassing, but then he didn’t really do anything to force Khamzat to tire out. And he didn’t seem to have any idea how to even begin to defend the takedowns. It honestly felt like he thought he could just brute strength his way out of it. We saw how that worked out for him

I agree with pretty much all of this. Usman and Burns both did a much better job of making Chimaev work on the ground and drain his gas tank. Chimaev, when fresh, is a freakishly good takedown artist. If an opponent can't drain his stamina they will likely find themselves on their back repeatedly.

Edited August 19, 2025 by jimufctna24

[Egg Shen]

I think the main issue that DDP had is that he fully believed going in that if he was taken down he would continually get back up. His pre-fight interviews reflected that. I don't think he ever expected to be held down like he was.

[Kfogg1991]

I really don't get the comments about the main event being boring, if he just lay on him and did nothing then yeah I get it but with the most strikes in middleweight history, the most takedowns in history and him showing how he can go five rounds I think it was a fantastic showing and I was at the edge of my seat all night long.

Two back to back spinning elbow knock outs was fucking Insane with Geoff neal getting knocked out for the first time and Pico shitting the bed was so good.

This is where I love being a fan of this sport when you get fights that deliver and make history it rules 

[Bruce85]

I think I’m also in the minority that didn’t enjoy the main event, and part of that is due to it not being the war I’d hoped for which isn’t the fighters fault tbf. 
 

It’s a weird one cos on one hand to take DDP down at will and control him for the majority of the fight is impressive, but on the other hand I just didn’t find the performance from Chimaev that impressive overall. To me it didn’t seem like he had the urgency to get the finish, which in the first couple of rounds makes sense if he wanted to keep position and grind DDP down. But it became obvious he could take DDP down at will so I’d like to have seen him take more of a chance to advance the position, posture up for some big ground shots, or go for the submission. If DDP scrambled and got up Chimaev could get him back down easily. 
 

I dunno, it’s a funny one to try and explain as to me it was impressive and boring at the same time. One fight that doesn’t live up to expectations doesn’t make a fighter boring though and I can’t wait to see him back in there defending the belt! He’s going to be a big problem for any challenger. 
 

I expected a lot more from DDP, with a division full of new challengers I think he’s going to have to do a lot to find himself back in the title picture. 
 

Really enjoyed the rest of the card, I’d really like to see Murphy get the next shot against Volk, that spinning elbow put him on the map.