Max Holloway couldn’t help but marvel at Khamzat Chimaev’s relentless offensive output during his dominant victory over Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 in Chicago.
The former featherweight champion was caught on video reacting to Chimaev’s ground-and-pound assault, expressing genuine amazement at the volume of strikes being landed in the middleweight title fight.
“Nah, he punching him hard,” Holloway observed while watching the contest. “Now you elbow. There! Now you elbow.”
As Chimaev continued his overwhelming performance, Holloway made a surprising observation about his own UFC record potentially being in jeopardy.
“He gonna beat me for the most significant strikes landed,” Holloway remarked with visible disbelief. “He gonna have a thousand, and no one’s ever going to beat him.”
Holloway, known for his volume striking, holds several UFC records for significant strikes landed in a single fight. His statement shows just how impressive Chimaev’s offensive output was against Du Plessis.
From the opening seconds of the championship bout, Chimaev imposed his wrestling advantage on Du Plessis, repeatedly taking the South African champion to the canvas and maintaining dominant positions throughout the contest. What followed was a methodical dismantling as Chimaev applied constant pressure with punches and elbows from top position.
By the final rounds, Du Plessis appeared worn down from the relentless assault, struggling to generate any meaningful offense or prevent the takedowns. While the South African champion managed a brief moment of success with a reversal in the final frame, it proved too little too late.
When the final scores were announced, all three judges awarded Chimaev a lopsided 50-44 decision, cementing his status as the new UFC middleweight champion in emphatic fashion.
Chimaev’s performance left such an impression on Holloway that the Hawaiian native could only respond with amazement: “Unreal. Bro, he’s already there, bro.”
The newly crowned champion’s dominant showing has clearly put the entire middleweight division on notice, as evident from Holloway’s reaction.
