For the first time in his UFC career, Dricus du Plessis tasted the defeat on Saturday evening.
In his third defense of the middleweight title, Du Plessis was convincingly divided by Khamzat Chimaev over five rounds.
'Still Knocks' showed his resilience, but was unable to threaten his challenger with something essential for the entire duration.
The champion had no answer to the elite struggling of his opponent, where the coach of Chimaev went so far to say that the wrestling coach of Du Plessis should be fired as a result.
He was optimistic in his interview after the fight on the reconstruction of this setback, but some concerns were expressed after his loss.
Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC
Daniel Cormier ask for the preparations for Dricus du Plessis after his one-sided UFC 319 loss
It is understandable that there was a lot of praise for Khamzat Chimaev after his title -winning performance at UFC 319.
'Borz' was able to ask questions about his cardio to bed by hitting Drus Du Plessis on the floor for most of the five rounds.
In his summary video immediately after the event, Daniel Cormier spoke strongly about what he has just viewed from Chimaev and what the new champion is capable of.
Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty images
'DC', however, also raised some questions about the performance of the defending champion and where he went wrong.
Du Plessis has confronted a lot of adversity in the Octagon, but after he dominated him, Cormier spoke about whether he was well prepared for the challenge for him.
“It was very impressive by Chimaev. However, if I am honest, it was a bit disappointing on the side of Du Plessis because he knew the challenge. I don't know if they were preparing the right way for what challenge was for them.
“You know that when you fight against Chimaev, you have to be able to get up when you are brought down, and you have to harden the Takedowns. He couldn't do any of those things tonight and now he is the former champion.”
Daniel Cormier believes that the rivals of Khamzat Chimaev should start working earlier instead of later
Although Daniel Cormier was critical of the preparations of Dricus du Plessis, he also acknowledged that training for a man like Khamzat Chimaev is incredibly difficult.
In some respects you know what he is going to do, but predicting and stopping are two huge different things.
In his UFC 319 Recap video, Cormier advised that the top -thorough weight weights should prepare for this style in advance, in the conviction that it will take time to get ready for Chimaev.
“All these guys should now run to the struggle space. Go with a coach who can prepare them for the wrestling trade fairs because the controls that Chimaev uses, the wrist fights, the hand fights, the forward pressure, these are all things you learn in the wrestling room as a child and then you bring them to Fechten.
“I don't know if a training camp will be enough to help you close the gap because Chimaev is so good in those areas.”