Dricus du Plessis entered UFC 319 on the cusp of consideration for the No. 1 spot on MMA Fighting’s Pound-for-Pound list.
After five rounds with the indomitable Khamzat Chimaev, du Plessis now sits on the outside of the top 10 looking in.
That’s a harsh and precipitous fall for the now-former middleweight champion, who simply had no answers for Chimaev’s relentless wrestling attack. Had du Plessis been caught early and finished in the first or second round, a fate so many of Chimaev’s previous opponents have suffered, perhaps we could have written it off as du Plessis having an off night or simply making a costly mistake. But seeing him completely neutralized for five rounds felt worse, as if Chimaev has been the rightful middleweight king all along and du Plessis was simply saving his seat on the throne.
Our rankings panel acted swiftly in the aftermath of Saturday’s pay-per-view, dropping du Plessis all the way from No. 5 to No. 11, while Chimaev makes a massive eight-spot jump to claim du Plessis’ spot. Chimaev has impressed every time he’s been in the cage and seeing him with gold around his waist was the final piece the MMA Fighting staff needed to push him past the likes of Magomed Ankalaev, Tom Aspinall, Alexander Volkanovski, and Jack Della Maddalena.
What do you think, did we put Chimaev too high? Du Plessis too low? Let us know in the comments below.
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 13 Khamzat Chimaev def. No. 5 Dricus du Plessis, No. 12 Max Holloway def. Dustin Poirier
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Merab Dvalishvili vs Cory Sandhagen (UFC 320, Oct. 4), No. 6 Magomed Ankalaev vs. No. 10 Alex Pereira (UFC 320, Oct. 4), No. 7 Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane (UFC 321, Oct. 25), No. 16 Charles Oliveira vs. Rafael Fiziev (UFC Rio, Oct. 11), No. 18 Jiri Prochazka vs. Khalil Rountree (UFC 320, Oct. 4), No. 20 Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes (PFL Champions Series, Oct. 3)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Francis Ngannou (2), Aljamain Sterling (2), Joshua Van (2), Mario Bautista (1), Brandon Moreno (1), Lerone Murphy (1), Sean O’Malley (1), Cory Sandhagen (1)
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 8 Dakota Ditcheva def. Sumiko Inaba, No. 13 Rose Namajunas def. Miranda Maverick, No. 14 Seika Izawa def. Yu Jin Shin, No. 20 Liz Carmouche def. Jena Bishop
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 Manon Fiorot vs. No. 19 Jasmine Jasudavicius (UFC Vancouver, Oct. 18), No. 12 Tatiana Suarez vs. Amanda Lemos (Noche UFC, Sept. 13)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Norma Dumont (3), Jessica Andrade (2), Maycee Barber (1), Macy Chiasson (1), Loopy Godinez (1), Amanda Lemos (1), Gillian Robertson (1)