UFC legend Kamaru Usman has given his thoughts on Khamzat Chimaev’s victory at UFC 319.
In the main event of UFC 319, Khamzat Chimaev defeated Dricus du Plessis. He was dominant from beginning to end in what proved to be a really one-sided title fight. A fight of Khamzat’s that wasn’t one-sided, however, came when he battled it out with Kamaru Usman.
On short notice, Kamaru Usman was able to really push the pace with Khamzat and keep up with him throughout the course of the fight. If the bout had been five rounds, many believe that Kamaru could’ve done enough to completely turn the tide.
In a recent podcast, Kamaru Usman gave his full thoughts on Khamzat’s performance against DDP.
Kamaru Usman’s view on Khamzat Chimaev’s win
“Khamzat Chimaev possessed this one skill that can make you look like a middle school wrestler,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “That’s all that was, and even watching that, Khamzat made a lot of mistakes that I think would have got him that finish before that third round.
“He got to a position where it was so easy, it was almost him controlling himself. He had to control his own emotions. He had to control his gas tank because that’s not easy to dominate a guy like that. Everything is working because, in your mind, you’re wanting resistance. Resistance is how you gauge how much output I need to put out. If everything is going right, you can’t gauge how much output to put out.
“Maybe you might try finish it in that first round, then you get up in the second like, ‘Whoa, I can’t even lift my arms. Why am I so tired?’ Khamzat did a phenomenal job because he had so much success with this. But the one area I think he could have had a lot of success is when he was on the back, and Dricus was on all fours, Khamzat kind of coasted, kind of landed some knees to the thigh.
“He could have one, sucked him back, or you could have put that weight on Dricus Du Plessis’ arms, driving that head down, kept driving and driving. I guarantee you do that for a round, Dricus Du Plessis either wants to go on his back, or he gives up these positions a lot easier, (and) that allows you to have that choke.”
