Dricus Du Plessis’ coach, Morne Visser, has spoken out after his fighter lost his UFC middleweight title on Saturday night.
UFC 319 saw Du Plessis dethroned in dominant style by Khamzat Chimaev, who used his wrestling to control the whole fight and take home a clean sweep unanimous decision.
During fight week, Dricus’s coach labelled Khamzat ‘one-dimensional’ for using his Russian wrestling style in his fights, only to have his fighter outgrappled by the exact style.
The South African was very gracious in defeat and said the fighter ‘deserved his win’ but he did also explain he would be back to regain his belt.
Dricus Du Plessis’ coach calls Khamzat Chimaev’s win at UFC 319 ‘boring’, reveals conversations in the corner
It was his first loss in the UFC, and after becoming champion made two successful defences before losing to the Chechen.
Now, in the first interview since the loss, Visser has spoken about the performance of the challenger and his fighter with Submission Radio.
When asked about the way the Dubai resident controlled the fight with his wrestling, the coach said: “Khamzat landed like 570 shots or 550 shots, and only 37 of them were significant. So, he just did enough to win. He obviously controlled positions very well, and he just did enough to keep the ref not letting the fight stand up.
“That fight was smothered with boringness, and yes, we are guilty for making it boring as well. Our fighter just needed an extra minute at the end there. I don’t think the crowd was happy.
“I remember when we walked in, the crowd was booing DDP, and three minutes into the fight, they were all booing Khamzat for just holding Dricus down. But he does a good job with that. He’s very good at his wrestling. So, hats off to him.”
Fans at home and in the crowd seemed very unhappy with the amount of grappling and time the main event fighters spent on the ground, which was more than likely not helped by the two previous spinning elbow finishes prior.
During the broadcast, it was difficult to hear what was being said to the champion by Morne in the corner.
But the trainer explained what he had said to ‘Stillknocks’ after the first and third rounds.
“We actually laughed about it, me and him in the corner because I said to him, ‘Okay, this is the very best he’s got that he just showed us what he can do’. I just didn’t think that he will try to do that for five rounds,” he said.
“So we were communicating between the rounds. I think after the third, I said to Dricus ‘Okay, we are three down now. Do you want to take him down?’ And he said to me, “Coach, he’s too wet. Too slippery.”
Dricus Du Plessis’ coach reveals timeline for UFC return and how he’d feel about a Khamzat Chimaev rematch
The struggles with the Russian style of wrestling and grappling were apparent, but Visser insisted that he prepared his man as best he could with around 10 Russian wrestlers in camp.
While it may be too early to focus on a return to the Octagon for Du Plessis, his coach has given a fair timeline on his comeback.
Asked how long he would need to prepare to fix his issues with wrestling control, he said: “He’s obviously going to take a week off, maybe two weeks max. So, that gives us (until the end) of August. Then I need 12 to 16 weeks to sort this problem out.
“I don’t need fitness. I don’t need strength. I don’t need conditioning. I don’t need to fix his stand-up. I just need to fix this problem. It’s a fixable problem. Then go back into camp immediately. A 12-week fight camp. So we’ll be back early next year.”
Morne did respond to a call for a rematch next. He said he would not take the second fight immediately because he needed to fix the problem and make adjustments before throwing the former champion back in there.