Dricus Du Plessis promises to become a more complete athlete when he gets back in the cage after Khamzat Chimaev dominated him to become the middleweight champion at UFC 319 in August.
Du Plessis was riding an 11-fight winning streak when Chimaev controlled and dominated him throughout five rounds to claim the belt in Chicago, and he admits frustration in looking back and seeing what the Chechen middleweight was able to do inside the octagon.
“He made sure he stayed out of danger and he fought that fight and he almost neutralized me in making it a fight,” Du Plessis told Fight Forecast, “because if we made it a fight it would have been a different story. But he knew that, so he was smart in that. I mean, frustrating, absolutely, but, like I said, the speed bumps, that’s what makes me better. Now I know the little piece of this puzzle where I need to work on. And believe me, in my next performance, you will see me do that, exactly just that. Be a master at that.”
Chimaev improved to 15-0 as a professional that night, only the third time he’s gone the distance in mixed martial arts, and Du Plessis took a little shot at his fighting style.
“Like I said on the night, big ups to him,” Du Plessis said. “He came out there and he did what he needed to do. Not the kind of fight that I would have wanted with all the hype. It wasn’t a very fun fight to watch for anyone. I got bored in the fight and I was in there, to be honest [laughs]. I mean, he did what he had to do to win that belt. If that’s the way that you are going to go, well, good for you. It’s different strokes.”
The UFC has yet to announce what’s next for Du Plessis. Chimaev, on the other hand, has teased interest in moving up to 205 pounds to challenge that division’s titleholder Alex Pereira, but that’s not likely to be his next move in the UFC.
