Khamzat Chimaev reveals what he said to Dricus du Plessis and his coach during UFC 319 title fight

Many in the MMA community predicted Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev to be a close affair; it was anything but. 'Borz' steamrolled his opponent, smothering him on the ground for the majority of the fight to win the middleweight gold.

To top it off, the Chechen-born Emirati even found time for a little heart-to-heart with 'Stillknocks' and his coach during the UFC 319 clash. At the post-fight press conference, when Chimaev was asked whether he was surprised about not being able to finish the South African, he said:

"No, I was just working on him. I had some cool time in there. Just spoke with him, spoke with his coach in the middle of the fight, I was happy... I said, 'Good job, work harder, guys.'"

Check out Khamzat Chimaev's comments below (0:43):

UFC 319 was a one-sided spectacle for Chimaev, who established his dominance right from the opening bell, taking du Plessis down seconds into the fight.

Although 'Borz' dominated the round, racking up ground control time, 'Stillknocks' seemed confident of mounting a comeback as he returned for the second. However, such hopes waned quickly.

'Borz' continued his wrestling dominance, controlling du Plessis on the ground, while peppering him with punches and elbows. Chimaev even trapped the former middleweight champion in a crucifix twice.

Five rounds of pure domination saw the wrestling extraordinaire set the UFC record for the most strikes landed in a single fight with 529. He also secured 21:40 minutes of control time, earning a 50-44 win across the judges' scorecards, winning the middleweight title in the process.

For his grappling masterclass against du Plessis, the 31-year-old was awarded a jiu-jitsu black belt by his coach.

Interestingly, Chimaev doesn't seem to oppose the idea of making a quick turnaround at UFC 321, in Abu Dhabi, an idea Dana White has also shown interest in.