UFC analyst and former Chael Sonnen has raised eyebrows with his assessment of Khamzat Chimaev‘s dominant championship victory over Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319, suggesting the new middleweight champion succeeded through unconventional tactics rather than traditional grappling excellence.
Despite Chimaev’s lopsided unanimous decision victory with scorecards reading 50-44 across the board, Sonnen questioned whether the performance truly demonstrated championship-level grappling skills. The veteran analyst pointed out a fascinating paradox in how the match unfolded on the ground.
“The moves and techniques that Chimaev did, you’ve never been taught in grappling class,” Sonnen explained. “If you get a guy to his hands and knees, what some people refer to disgustingly as turtle position, you would then immediately advance from there. There’s no practice, there’s no jiu-jitsu coach anywhere in the world that ever tells you when you get to that position, hold his hips and do nothing.”
According to Sonnen, Chimaev’s success came not from superior grappling technique but from doing the unexpected – essentially nothing. When du Plessis found himself in defensive positions he had drilled countless times, he waited for Chimaev to advance as traditional grappling would dictate. Instead, Chimaev simply maintained position leaving du Plessis confused and stuck in scenarios he had never practiced.
The Swedish-Chechen MMA star’s journey to the black belt has been anything but conventional. During a candid interview two years prior, Chimaev displayed characteristic humility when discussing his BJJ progression.
“I don’t know, maybe 10 years, we’ll see,” he said when asked about his black belt timeline. “I’ll get to the proper about seven years, so we’ll see.”
His cautious estimate reflected both respect for the art and understanding of his coach’s exacting standards.
“Yeah, maybe 10 years, I don’t know. It’s up to my coach, we’ll see,” Chimaev emphasized.
What made Chimaev’s projection particularly intriguing was his existing success against high-level grapplers.
“I submit a lot of black belts, but still, my coach hard with that,”
he revealed, highlighting the disconnect between competitive success and formal recognition. His coach’s philosophy became clear in the MMA star grappler’s own words:
“I don’t give the belts that easy. You’ve got to work for it.”
Chimaev’s response demonstrated his commitment to earning recognition through dedication rather than expecting automatic advancement based on competition results.
“I’m working,”
he stated simply, embodying the mindset that would eventually accelerate his progression beyond his own expectations.
The timing of his black belt promotion coinciding with his UFC middleweight title victory has sparked considerable debate within martial arts circles.
Sonnen was quick to say:
“Dricus was where he was supposed to be waiting for Chimaev to advance, which is what everybody who’s ever done this has been taught to do,” Sonnen noted. “So when Chimaev elected not to advance, Dricus was confused.”
The strategy proved effective when Chimaev did attempt traditional advances. Each time he tried to improve position with proper technique, du Plessis successfully reversed him – something no other opponent had accomplished. This forced Chimaev to adapt mid-match, realizing that maintaining static control was more advantageous than advancing.
Sonnen also highlighted that Chimaev’s wrestling success came from a single technique executed repeatedly.
“Chimaev used one technique and his setup was the exact same. He took 14 attempts. 11 of them worked. Same setup for all 14. It’s just a double leg.”
The analysis suggests that while Chimaev’s victory was undeniably dominant, it relied more on strategic innovation and relentless execution of basic techniques rather than the refined grappling skills typically expected of a black belt.
“He was given his black belt tonight.”
“Now, Islam Makhachev had called out, but what Islam really did is call to our attention a reality, which is black belts are handed out a little bit too easily.”
“And I do feel, if you look at Chimaev’s tonight, you guys will really respect his black belt…”
“Respect what he has done in this sport up until this point, including becoming a number one contender, including defeating Robert Whittaker as quickly as he did and doing it as a brown belt.”
“I think that you’ll appreciate that.”
