“Like Throwing A No Hitter” MMA Community Reacts To Khamzat’s Dominance At UFC 319
New middleweight champion of the world, Khamzat Chimaev, delivered a dominant performance this past Saturday at UFC 319. Some might argue it was the most one-sided showing a challenger has ever had against a reigning champion.
Using relentless grappling, Khamzat secured a unanimous 50-44 decision victory over Dricus Du Plessis. A longtime boogeyman of the UFC’s Middleweight and Welterweight divisions, Khamzat’s rise has often felt inevitable – and this performance only reinforced that notion.
The stats from the fight were nothing short of staggering. Former UFC top-ten heavyweight and current podcaster Brendan Schaub compared the performance to a no-hitter in Major League Baseball:
“What he did is basically like throwing a no-hitter in baseball. It’s so impressive – oh my God, they are dominating – but it’s pretty boring to watch. Unless you really enjoy the game.”
- 21:40 of control time in a 25 minute fight
- 37 significant strikes to Dricus’s 13
- 529 total strikes to Dricus’s 45
- 12 take downs landed of 17 attempts
Mixed reactions to Khamzat Chimaev’s title win
Many fans and fighters alike had mixed reactions to the new champion’s performance. Just this morning, I was listening to The Heidi and Frank Show on KLOS, Los Angeles radio, when the hosts began discussing how boring they found the fight on Saturday.
Notable YouTuber The MMA Guru, during his show with UFC legend Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, expressed his disappointment with Khamzat’s showing:
“I’m heartbroken. I’ve watched the empire I built for so long crumble – live on a Pay-Per-View main event. Khamzat Chimaev wet blankets him.”
Demetrious Johnson, however, had some strong words for casual fans who criticized what he saw as a high-level performance:
“Don’t watch the UFC. You guys are complaining about a very simple problem to fix. Let’s say Khamzat is about to fight again and you don’t want to watch his style — all you have to do is this…” (mimics picking up a remote and changing the channel) “…You don’t need to see Khamzat wrestle.”
