The way Khamzat Chimaev won the UFC Middleweight title has a split -human.
Chimaev is on the throne at 185 pounds after an emphatic version on the UFC 319 pay-per-view in Chicago last Saturday.
While many thought his key to the victory was in the main event in the early rounds, Chimaev dominated for 25 minutes Drica du Plessis, and gained an incredible 21 minutes and 40 seconds of control time, next to a record 529 strikes.
The key to such a dominance was the successful removal of the Chechen star and the smothering of wrestling, but that approach and the lack of urgency when striving for a finish left some fans less than satisfied.
Javier Mendez says that Khamzat Chimaev was right to fight
The MMA community has become accustomed to see brutality of 'Borz' in the Octagon. That could be seen in the fight that earned him a title shot, with Chimaev Robert Whittaker subjecting violently in October 2024.
After witnessing a much more patient strategy that was branded by some on UFC 319 'boring', not everyone was the champion on August 16 Serenaden.
That clearly has Javier Mendez, the old coach of Islam Makhachev and former trainer for the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov, in these.
“He did what he wanted to do. He rag him,” said Mendez during the Javier and Mo show on YouTube.
“The game plan (WAS) to bring DDP down. That is what I would have said. I would have told him exactly what he did. That is exactly what I would have had it done.
“Why? This is your only big chance to win the biggest prize,” Mendez continued. “You can be the biggest man. For a long time we have not had that big.
“This man can be very big, so why should I risk it? I would tell him,” Just get him down. And when he comes up again, take him down again. “
“Sometimes people say:” Oh, it's boring. 'Well, ok, whose fault is it boring?
Demetrious Johnson also defended the UFC 319 strategy of Khamzat Chimaev
The coach of Makhachev and Khabib is not the only prominent name that Chimaev's approach defends in the aftermath of UFC 319.
Also in the new Champ's Corner is flying weight Goat Demetrious Johnson. While he streamed his reactions to UFC 319 live, Johnson sent a message to the opponents of Chimaev and she just said they should stop looking at MMA if they don't enjoy struggling.
“If you don't want to look at Grappling and Wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu-Kijk not to the UFC,” said Johnson.
“You complain about something that is a very simple problem to solve. Let's say, for example, that Khamzat is about to fight again, you don't want to look at his style. The only thing you have to do is go: you can see this button here, it has been declared.
“You don't have to see Khamzat struggling,” Johnson continued. “It's a very simple problem to solve boys. You make it a larger deal than it is.”