'I'm sorry South Africa' — Dricus du Plessis loses UFC title in dominant fight

South Africa’s UFC champion Dricus du Plessis was dominated at UFC 319 in Chicago, US, where he lost his belt to opponent Khamzat Chimaev after a five-round ground game on Sunday morning.

While Du Plessis had vowed that Chimaev would never take him down, the Chechen took him down in each round, leaving the champ with no chance of throwing punches.

Chimaev dominated Du Plessis with control and changing positions on the ground, which Du Plessis struggled to defend in each round. However, the champ nearly choked Chimaev in the last round but his contender managed to slip out of his grip.

The judges scored the fight 50-44 in favour of Chimaev, making this Du Plessis’ first loss since his debut at the UFC in 2020.

In his post-fight interview, Du Plessis said while he did not feel Chimaev was stronger, he knew what he needed to do to maintain “incredible control”.

“At the end, I went for it and could almost taste the victory ... He beat me fair and square and I’ll be back and get my belt back.”

He however apologised to South African fans for his disappointing loss.

“To everybody in South Africa, you all know this flag means the world to me. I am sorry to anyone I let down. I’ll be back stronger. South Africans, we rise and fight through adversity and we will show the world that they still don’t know what we know.”

Du Plessis had reigned over the middleweight division since winning the belt from Sean Strickland in January last year. He was the first to submit Israel Adesanya in August last year and dominated a rematch with Strickland in February this year.