Fans Call Out Dricus Du Plessis’ Coach for ‘Bitter’ Attitude Towards Khamzat Chimaev’s Wrestling

After suffering a lopsided mauling at the hands of Khamzat Chimaev, Dricus Du Plessis's coach had some choice words for the new champion.

Fans Call Out Dricus Du Plessis’ Coach for ‘Bitter’ Attitude Towards Khamzat Chimaev’s Wrestling

Dricus Du Plessis' coach has some strong words for Khamzat Chimaev (Via Instagram, Bloody Elbow)

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The UFC 319 main event between Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus Du Plessis was a lopsided mauling. Over 21 minutes of control time combined with 529 total strikes and 12 takedowns, ‘Borz’ displayed the purest form of grappling dominance. And naturally, the Chicago PPV crowned a new champion with all three judges scoring 50-44 in favor of Chimaev. However, the fight did not sit well with the South African’s head coach.

For the unversed, coach Morne Visser has trained Du Plessis for the majority of his career. Moreover, he led ‘Stillknocks’ to his championship win at UFC 297 and two consecutive defenses at UFC 305 and UFC 312, respectively. On top of that, the duo is extremely close to each other. Visser recently spoke to Submission Radio regarding his thoughts on the fight. And it is safe to say that he had a few strong words for Chimaev while looking back at the bout.

He stayed on Dricus like a f***ing blanket. So I am looking for blankets, I am looking for blankets around the world, that’s gonna help us to get those blankets off us. All those naysayers, all those who support blanket-style MMA, blanket wrestling. We’re the real fight game, and we will be back again.

Morne Visser via Submission Radio

Visser completely disregarded Chimaev’s performance and referred to it as “blanket style” throughout the interview. He also blamed referee Marc Goddard for not breaking the long and tedious grappling exchanges and believed that they should have done a better job and should have made the fight more “entertaining.” However, Visser also acknowledged the South African side’s fault in being equally responsible for how the fight played out.

Visser also admitted they underestimated Chimaev’s wrestling control and stressed that they must fix their “Russian-style” wrestling deficits before any rematch. However, he does not aim for a contender fight and wants a rematch against Chimaev to be the next course of action for DDP after correcting the flaws.

DDP and Visser have been at the center of many controversies. Du Plessis has trained under Visser at the CIT Performance Institute in South Africa. However, Visser faced a lot of questions when a video of him using a taser to correct a fighter’s mistakes while training went viral. Despite the backlash, ‘Stillknocks’ came to Visser’s defence and explained the harsh methods.

There is no doubt that the former kingpin and Visser will have to come up with an entirely new game plan in case of a rematch. However, the comments made by Visser regarding the UFC 319 fight were not well-received by fans.

Fans react to the comments made by Morne Visser regarding Khamzat Chimaev vs Dricus Du Plessis

The fight between Du Plessis and Chimaev was undoubtedly one of the most dominant displays of wrestling in the history of the UFC. It was also the first time that a challenger had put on such a one-sided performance against the champion. However, Visser’s comments regarding the UFC 319 main event were unwelcome by fans.

Khamzat Chimaev vs Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319
Khamzat Chimaev vs Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 (via The Sporting News)

Fans on X have been divided over Visser’s comments, while some fans are blaming Visser for DDP’s poor performance against ‘Borz’, others are terming Visser’s comments as rational. Here are some fan reactions to Morne Visser’s views on Chimaev’s performance:

There has been a lot of criticism regarding the UFC 319 main event. Many fans and pundits have termed it as “boring” and “snooze-worthy.” However, they fail to understand that MMA is a mixture of different martial arts and not just striking masterclasses and highlight reel knockouts. Even though striking and banging are more entertaining, it was a treat for MMA fans to watch Chimaev’s dominant performance.

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