The main event of UFC 319 saw the third-ranked middleweight Khamzat Chimaev dominate throughout the 25-minute championship fight against the UFC Middleweight Champion Driscus Du Plessis to become the new champion. The fight was one of the most dominating performances in UFC history and was able to completely dominate throughout the entire five rounds. Let’s take a deeper dive into the main event.
Khamzat Chimeav Wins UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 319
Aug 15, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, UNITED STATES; Khamzat Chimaev during weigh ins for UFC 319 at Radius Chicago. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn ImagesThe main event of UFC 319 looked exactly like this: Chimaev was able to immediately land a takedown just a few seconds into the fight, and he was able to transition into a crucifix submission while just lightly tapping him with punches in the head. Du Plessis struggled to get much going in the first half of the first round before getting his right arm free, but was just unable to get off his back almost the entire first round. Du Plessis was able to escape quickly before Chimaev took him back down, but Du Plessis struggled in an attempt to lock in a guillotine before the first round ended.
The second round was more of the same as Khamzat Chimaev immediately went for a takedown and while Du Plessis fought for a moment, Chimaev was able to secure the takedown. The third round was more of the same as Du Plessis just did not have any answers to fight the takedown. Chimaev began to increase the damage with his elbows later in the third round of the fight, but the fight continued on, while the crowd was not pleased with the champion’s lack of defense.
In the fourth round, we finally saw the champion defend a takedown, but the challenger immediately shot again to land his seventh takedown in eight attempts. The referee forced a controversial separation with one minute remaining in the fourth round, but Khamzat Chimaev did exactly what he did throughout the entire fight and lock in another submission until the round ended. The final round saw Du Plessis fight for the first 20 seconds, but Khamzat Chimaev secured his 10th takedown of the fight.
Du Plessis was able to escape halfway through the final round and had some life, but Chimaev regained the position in order to get momentum. The two were stood up with about 90 seconds remaining and the champion got some strikes. Du Plessis was too high while trying to get a submission of his own, but the champion was too high and not able to get the result. The judges scored the fight 50-44 and Khamzat Chimaev secured the UFC Middleweight Championship.
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