By Following Khamzat Chimaev’s dominant but criticism-drawing win over Dricus du Plessis to claim the middleweight throne at UFC 319, UFC veteran Matt Brown has come to the new champion’s defense, acknowledging the fight’s lack of fireworks while championing its strategic brilliance.
Chimaev put on a wrestling clinic in Chicago, blanketing the tough Du Plessis for nearly the entire fight. While the stats were historically one-sided—a staggering 529 to 45 advantage in strikes landed and nearly 22 minutes of control time—the repetitive nature of the bout drew boos from the live crowd and criticism from fans online.
Count Matt Brown among those who found the performance less than thrilling, though he vehemently disagrees with the detractors. On his “The Fighter vs. The Writer” podcast, the always-candid Brown drew a direct parallel to one of the sport’s all-time greats.
“It was boring,” Brown admitted. “[Georges St-Pierre] had a lot of boring fights. But we don’t really talk about how boring GSP was, do we? We talk about how dominant he was. That’s the game that we’re playing. You can’t take anything away from Khamzat for what he did.”
Also read: Dricus Du Plessis Takes Strategic Approach After UFC 319 Loss, Rules Out Immediate Chimaev Rematch
Brown sees Chimaev’s title-winning performance as a sign of maturity. He believes the Chechen-born fighter went through a phase where he felt compelled to stand and trade, evidenced by his bloody wars with Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman, before returning to the foundational skills that make him special.
“I think we see a lot of these wrestlers come into MMA… we see wrestlers think they’re strikers,” Brown analyzed. “I think Khamzat went through that phase a little bit… and then he was like, ‘wait a minute, I’m the best wrestler here, what am I doing?’ And got back to it. He got a championship out of it.”
While watching from the outside, Brown admitted it felt like Chimaev could have taken more risks to secure a finish. However, he was quick to dismiss that as “armchair quarterbacking,” emphasizing the intelligent and low-risk approach required to dethrone a dangerous opponent like Du Plessis.
“He won basically a 10-8 round, probably three or four rounds in a world championship fight. Do you really want to criticize that?” Brown asked.
The veteran, who was known for his exciting style during his own 13-year UFC career, ended with a definitive statement on the nature of the sport at its highest level.
“This is a prize fight, and he’s going to win the prize. That’s his object of this fight is to win the prize. Not to make you happy because you want to see blood.”
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