Dricus Du Plessis, once the middleweight king, hit a wall at UFC 319, losing his title to Khamzat Chimaev in a lopsided fight. Chimaev’s wrestling overwhelmed him, racking up 12 takedowns and 529 strikes to win by unanimous decision (50-44) on August 16, 2025, in Chicago. UFC legend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has some tough advice, telling Du Plessis to skip any rematch talk and drop to welterweight due to his grappling weaknesses.
Kamaru Usman, another former champion, echoed similar concerns about Du Plessis’ technical flaws.
Jackson’s Harsh Advice
Speaking on the JAXXON Podcast, Jackson was blunt about Du Plessis’ performance.
“He just got destroyed. DDP shouldn’t even say the word ‘Re’ or ‘Match’ in the same f**king sentence in an interview, with all due respect. DDP needs to probably go to a different weight class. He probably should drop down in weight; he’s stuck,” Jackson said.
He believes Du Plessis’ smaller frame and grappling issues make middleweight too tough, pointing to welterweight as a better fit.
😳👀 Rampage Jackson says Dricus Du Plessis shouldn’t even mention a rematch and believes he needs to change weight classes after the dominant loss
“DDP shouldn’t even say the word ‘Re’ or ‘Match’ in the same sentence in an interview, with all due respect. DDP probably needs to… pic.twitter.com/wb5HBs5oBe
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) August 21, 2025
Usman’s Technical Critique
Kamaru Usman, former welterweight champion, added his perspective on the Pound 4 Pound podcast.
“DDP, there is that running joke where they say he is the best s**t fighter. He is really good, very, very talented. Clearly, he hits hard, and he is just a guy that won’t quit, won’t go away, but this fight… he didn’t have the opportunity to be tough. It was a technical error, technical skills that he just didn’t have to be able to escape those positions and potentially make it a dog fight. He just didn’t have it,” Usman said.
He continued, “Listen. I’m not here just kind of s**t on DDP, he is very, very tough. He is very, very talented. But, those were technical errors to where you can’t have technical holes like that to be the world champion.”
Usman’s comments highlight the grappling skills Du Plessis lacks to stay at middleweight’s top level.
Jackson, who won the UFC light heavyweight title in 2007 by knocking out Chuck Liddell, faced grappling challenges himself, like his loss to Jon Jones in 2011. Usman, who ruled welterweight from 2019 to 2022, lost to Leon Edwards due to evolving competition. Their backgrounds give their advice weight, especially after Du Plessis’ one-sided defeat.
Du Plessis has rebounded before. After his KSW loss, he won 12 straight fights, including nine in the UFC, before Chimaev. His team will likely seek grappling coaches, whether he stays at middleweight or drops to 170 pounds.
