Dricus du Plessis' grappling slammed by Reinier de Ridder after UFC 319 debacle: "Who is he really training with?"

Reinier de Ridder wasn't impressed with Dricus du Plessis' performance against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319. The No.5-ranked middleweight contender watched the action from cageside in Chicago.

While du Plessis survived the onslaught for five rounds, de Ridder was puzzled by the choices the South African made in the grappling exchanges. Chimaev dominated du Plessis from the opening bell, clocking more than 21 minutes of control time.

Du Plessis offered little resistance on the ground and fell into repeated traps, including two crucifix positions that allowed Chimaev to chip away with strikes. De Ridder pointed out that du Plessis’ repeated guillotine attempts were poorly executed.

Speaking about the lack of defensive adjustments and du Plessis' overall performance in an interview with Submission Radio, de Ridder said:

"Why isn't he trying that? Like, what was the number one thing you're surprised Dricus didn't try in this fight? I was very frustrated with him going for the guillotine like twice, very sloppily. It's hard to get up sometimes when somebody is on your back like that, when they were against the wall, the side turtle position with the hands locked. But there are a few tricks he could have done better there."

He added:

"He was basically just holding Khamzat on top of him. Maybe this is something I've wondered before, but maybe this is a factor. Who is he really training with there in South Africa? Does he have a decent wrestler? Does he have guys of that level to train with? I'm not sure."

Check out Reinier de Ridder's comments below (3:50):

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Reinier de Ridder on most surprising aspect of Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev fight

Reinier de Ridder said the most surprising element of UFC 319 was how little the bout affected Khamzat Chimaev’s gas tank. Many expected Chimaev to fade under pressure, but instead, it was Dricus du Plessis who drained himself while trapped on the bottom.

De Ridder noted that the South African spent the early rounds surviving rather than forcing Chimaev to work. Speaking about the fight in the aforementioned interview with Submission Radio, de Ridder said:

"At least it didn't really have anything to do with cardio this one. We saw that he did very well, but the thing is, you need to make somebody tired. Dricus was surviving in the first two rounds, but that didn't take anything out of Khamzat's gas tank. It only took out of Dricus' gas tank. The only guy getting tired was Dricus because he was on the bottom. He was struggling to move. He was struggling to breathe. So I think Khamzat did very well because of that."