“You can’t think you’re gonna beat my guy coming with one thing, and it’s wrestling. That guy’s one-dimensional.” Dricus du Plessis’ coach Morne Visser took massive shots at Khamzat Chimaev’s wrestling during a Submission Radio interview before the fight. The animosity surrounding the UFC 319 headliners became one of the main reasons for fan interest. However, the South African coach’s active role in those heated exchanges drew plenty of backlash

Veteran MMA referee John McCarthy openly criticized Visser’s comments on Chimaev’s wrestling. He even warned the camp that such remarks could backfire in their anticipated fight, creating backlash for the team. And as ‘Borz’ went on to dominate with his wrestling, handing Du Plessis a lopsided beatdown at UFC 319, the blame for his team being overly brash has already started. And, Kamaru Usman became one of the first to call it out post their showdown. 

Kamaru Usman aims at Dricus du Plessis camp for disrespecting Khamzat Chimaev

On the Pound-for-Pound podcast, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ said: “One thing I’ll say about it, and even in the lead-up, I felt this, I don’t want to say Dricus was overconfident, but I felt that vibe with the team. The way they were talking, there was a lack of respect for Khamzat. Like, ‘Oh, you can’t beat us with just one skill.’ Well, that’s a pretty damn important skill! And it’s a big one to overlook.”

Usman’s comments came in the days immediately following UFC 319 and were circulated on social channels as clips from the Pound-4-Pound show. Providing the specific episode link and timestamp will give readers a direct source to hear the quote in context.

The former welterweight champion didn’t mince his words when targeting DDP’s team. He even echoed Morne Visser’s exact comments from the Submission Radio interview. Just as Big John McCarthy predicted, the South African coach’s harsh words are beginning to take effect. To add fuel, Arman Tsarukyan also shared footage of ‘Stillknocks’ breathing heavily on his stool after getting dominated by Chimaev. So yes, the repercussions of that comment have already started to show. 

Still, Dricus du Plessis and his camp have chosen to keep the heat alive! Even after a convincing loss, Visser insists the former champ only needs to fix a few mistakes from the fight, and he’ll be ready to give Chimaev a real run for his money. 

Du Plessis’ coach wants to destory Borz in rematch  

Well, amid the ongoing backlash that Dricus du Plessis’ team has been facing for being too overconfident ahead of the Khamzat Chimaev fight, Morne Visser still hasn’t lost hope. The South African coach believes they only need to make some adjustments to ‘Stillknocks’ arsenal before their next meeting—and they’d be ready to break ‘Borz.’ In fact, they even erased the possibility of facing Reinier de Ridder in the process.

Visser said during the post-UFC 319 Submission Radio interview, “Instead of spending time preparing for another fight camp to face Reinier De Ridder, I’d rather spend that time fixing the problems we’ve got, and then go into camp. I won’t just take a fight because it’s available. I want to fix this problem because we’re going to face Khamzat, and I want to destroy him this time.”

For clarity, Du Plessis won the middleweight title at UFC 297 against Sean Strickland in January 2024. He then defended it against Israel Adesanya in August 2024 and against Strickland again in a February 2025 rematch at UFC 312. He entered UFC 319 as the reigning champion before losing the belt to Chimaev.

Dricus du Plessis has cemented his legacy in the middleweight division. As champion, he not only won the belt but defended it twice—against Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland. Naturally, in most cases, the UFC would grant an immediate rematch. However, this one feels tricky, as ‘DDP’ didn’t show much of his arsenal outside of that last-minute choke attempt on Chimaev.

From a matchmaking standpoint, UFC president Dana White and the matchmakers now face a decision: do they book an immediate rematch with Du Plessis, or test Chimaev against new blood? Names like Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho have been floated on recent cards, and their outcomes could shape the division’s direction.

That said, what do you think? Does the former middleweight champ’s camp being a little brash give them a mental edge? Or are they damaging themselves by going after Khamzat Chimaev with words? Let us know in the comments below!