Demetrious Johnson has a simple solution for fans tired of watching wrestling-heavy fights: Change the channel.
During a live YouTube reaction stream for UFC 319, Johnson gave his two cents on Saturday’s main event and broke down how Khamzat Chimaev grappled his way to a dominant decision win over Dricus du Plessis to capture the middleweight title. Johnson then addressed viewer comments, several of which were critical of Chimaev controlling du Plessis for 25 minutes without doing much significant
damage.
Johnson sympathized, then reminded fans they have the power to choose what they consume.
“If you guys don’t want to watch grappling and wrestling and jiu-jitsu, don’t watch UFC,” Johnson said. “Go watch ONE Championship, go watch Lion Fighting, go watch Glory, go watch kickboxing, go watch Muay Thai, right? It’s very simple. You guys are complaining about something that’s a very simple problem to fix.
“For example, let’s say Khamzat’s about to fight again, you don’t want to watch his style, all you’ve got to do is go like this, you see this button right here, it’s called ‘off button.’ You don’t have to see Khamzat wrestle, it’s a very simple problem to fix. You guys are making it a bigger deal than it is.”
Watching the fight live, Johnson was critical of Chimaev not finding positions to land more impactful ground-and-pound or to chase submissions. That didn’t matter in the end as “DDP” failed to prevent Chimaev from repeatedly taking him down and either smothering him or taking his back.
Johnson was on Chimaev’s side when it came to referee Marc Goddard calling for a standup and reset of position on a couple of occasions, decisions that Johnson believes favored du Plessis.
“I disagree with this,” Johnson said during the fight. “That should have never happened because the same thing’s going to happen. Basically, what the ref did, the ref gave DDP a better chance to fight. What just happened with the referee’s decision should have never happened. There’s no reason why the ref should have stood them up.
“This is a fight. It’s up to DDP to get to a better position to be able to better himself to be able to fight. The fact that the ref allowed DDP to get out of a very down position from Khamzat Chimaev is bullshit.”
Regardless of how entertaining Chimaev’s performance was or wasn’t, it’s clear the undefeated fighter and now UFC champion is a tough puzzle for any middleweight to solve. Reinier de Ridder, Anthony Hernandez, Caio Borralho, and Nassourdine Imavov are all in the mix to be the opponent for Chimaev’s first title defense, and as of now Chimaev has no preference as to who is next.
Whichever direction the matchmakers go in, Johnson knows that challenger better have their wrestling shoes on.
“I honestly thought Khamzat was going to be able to finish DDP if he was able to take DDP down, but I also thought DDP was going to do a better job of defending the takedowns and he wasn’t able to stop the takedown,” Johnson said. “That was the story of that fight, so moving forward, whoever fights Khamzat, they need to decide—like, Imavov or Borralho, they fight Sept. 6, whoever wins that fight, if they do not come with wrestling defense or a good jiu-jitsu attacking style like going after the legs, elevating Khamzat, they’re going to lose. I feel totally comfortable saying that. They’re going to lose.
“Because Khamzat does not want to stand. He wants to show, show, shoot. Show, show, shoot. Show, show, shoot. So if those guys don’t have a ground game or have an answer for his wrestling, it’s going to be the same exact thing that happened to DDP.”
TOP STORIES
Inevitable. Khamzat Chimaev is the new UFC middleweight champion.
Nope. Jon Jones fighting at UFC White House? Dana White calls it ‘a billion-to-one’ chance.
Nope again. And he’s not loving those 10,000-seat UFC APEX stories either!
Next? Lerone Murphy smoked Aaron Pico at UFC 319 and he has the featherweight champ’s attention.
How? One fight before Murphy’s unbelievable spinning elbow knockout, Carlos Prates did almost the exact same thing to Geoff Neal.
Important. Joseph Morales won The Ultimate Fighter 33 to cap off yet another magical season.
VIDEO STEW
MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee make their pick for who Chimaev should defend against first in the latest On to the Next One.
UFC 319 post-fight show.
UFC 319 post-fight scrums.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
I still can’t believe he said this.
They’ll be back.
Cute.
Life after.
Champ and future champ?
That’s one way to celebrate Premier League kickoff weekend.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We all thought it would be Khamzat early, DDP late, but what we got was something completely different. Personally, I found the UFC 319 main event mesmerizing, even if it’s a fight that I will never, ever watch again in its entirety. Chimaev defied expectations and became champion, that’s how I’m choosing to frame it.
Now get back to smeshing, big guy.
EXIT POLL
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