UFC 319 results, highlights: Khamzat Chimaev earns middleweight title with dominant win over Dricus du Plessis

Chimaev used his imposing ground game to totally neutralize his opponent on Saturday in Chicago

CHICAGO -- Khamzat Chimaev may not have made many new fans with his dominant win over Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 319 on Saturday, but the top title challenger is taking home the UFC middleweight championship after winning a lopsided decision with a smothering grappling performance.

As expected, Chimaev shot for a takedown immediately and was nearly caught in a du Plessis choke but rolled through to end up on top in side control. Chimaev quickly trapped du Plessis' arm between his legs and pounded away from the crucifix position. The punches were short and did not have Chimaev's full power behind them, but he had effectively rendered du Plessis defenseless and with nothing to do but look for a way to muscle out of the position.

Slightly more than halfway through the opening round, du Plessis did manage to free his arm, though he hadn't solved the problem of being stuck under Chimaev's smothering top game. Du Plessis nearly managed to find his way back to his feet in the final stages of the round, but the horn sounded with him still on bottom.

With the first round having gone about as poorly as possible for du Plessis outside of a stoppage, he entered the second round clearly in need of a change. Instead, Chimaev was immediately on the attack once again, putting du Plessis to one knee along the cage.

Du Plessis continued trying to step back up to his feet, but Chimaev held on, dragging him back down and landing knees and fishing to see if there were possible rear-naked choke attempts as the boos from the Chicago crowd grew louder.

The strategy had worked spectacularly for Chimaev in the first two rounds, so he returned to the plan for the third, this time finishing a takedown to return to the side control position where he'd dominated the opening frame. And, just as he'd done in the first round, Chimaev trapped one of du Plessis' arms in a crucifix position. Chimaev began to mix elbows into his attack with this crucifix, putting more damage into play and increasing the potential of a stoppage, but du Plessis was again able to free his arm and ride out the remaining seconds of the round.

Every round is a fresh opportunity, but it was Chamaev who took advantage of the situation. Another round meant another opportunity for a takedown, to force du Plessis to defend his back, to trap his arm in a crucifix.

Referee Marc Goddard introduced a new wrinkle in the fourth round, standing the fighters due to a lack of any real attack from Chimaev. Chimaev's response was simply to secure yet another takedown, where the fight would remain until the round's end.

Du Plessis had a moment of momentum to start the final round, landing a few strikes and forcing Chimaev to look uncomfortable for the first time in the fight. Cue the inevitable Chimaev takedown.

Du Plessis managed to escape the bottom with half of the round remaining, and even ended up in top position, but an attempt to pull a guillotine choke backfired and Chimaev was right back on top.

There would be one more dramatic moment, with the fight restarted with roughly one minute remaining. Du Plessis would again end up on top and this time even took the back after landing some hard strikes, but Chimaev avoided the Hail Mary rear-naked choke and the final seconds ticked out of the fight -- and du Pless' title reign.

Here are a few numbers to contextualize Chimaev's dominance on Saturday.

• Chimaev scored 12 takedowns in 17 attempts, leading to a total of 21:40 of ground control time. That means nearly 88% of the fight was spent with Chimaev in control on the ground.
• Chimaev landed 37 significant strikes compared to 13 for du Plessis. But if you remove the "significant" qualifier and go with simply strikes, Chimaev outlanded du Plessis 529 to 45.

Du Plessis entered Saturday's fight on a run of four consecutive victories over men who were then or had previously been middleweight champion. He left on the United Center having been held on the ground for nearly 22 minutes and outlanded by just shy of 500 strikes.

Chimaev is now 15-0 as a professional and holds the UFC middleweight championship. The fashion in which he dominated du Plessis suddenly makes Chimaev's wild plan of becoming a three-division champion, capturing gold at welterweight and light heavyweight, seem not so far-fetched.

Elsewhere on the card, Aaron Pico had his debut spoiled by a late replacement fighter. Lerone Murphy scored a picture-perfect back elbow that knocked Pico out cold in the opening round of their co-main event bout. Pico had controlled much of the action with his wrestling-heavy attack, but once Murphy managed to scramble back to his feet, he flipped his body and timed his strike to perfection. Murphy called for a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski in December, which the featherweight king appeared to agree to on social media afterward.

CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday, bringing you all the results and highlights from UFC 319 below.

UFC 319 fight card, odds

• Khamzat Chimaev def. Dricus du Plessis (c) via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44)
• Lerone Murphy def. Aaron Pico via first-round knockout (elbow)
• Carlos Prates def. Geoff Neal via first-round knockout (elbow)
• Michael Page def. Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Tim Elliott def. Kai Asakura via second-round submission (guillotine choke)
• Baisangur Susurkaev def. Eric Nolan via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)
• Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gerald Meerschaert via first-round TKO (punches)
• Loopy Godinez def. Jessica Andrade via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Alexander Hernandez def. Chase Hooper via first-round knockout (punches)
• Drakkar Klose def. Edson Barboza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29)
• Karine Silva def. Dione Barbosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Joseph Morales def. Alibi Idiris via second-round submission (triangle choke)

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:50 am ET · Brian Campbell]

SCORECARDS: 50-44, 50-44, 50-44 for Khamzat Chimaev. He's the new UFC middleweight champion. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:48 am ET · Brian Campbell]

The belt is about to change hands. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:48 am ET · Brian Campbell]

UNOFFICIAL SCORECARD: I have it 50-44 for Chimaev in a dominant performance. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:48 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R5: DDP takes Chimaev's back but runs out of time. The champion never gave up but Chimaev has finished the job. 10-9 Chimaev. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:47 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R5: Goddard stands up the fighters with 1:24 to go. Hard outside leg kick from Chimaev. Nice two-punch combination for du Plessis in the final minute. Chimaev's takedown attempt gets stuffed in a sprawl. Another takedown attempt from Chimaev gets reversed as DDP gets on top. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:46 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R5: DDP never gave up and reversed Chimaev into top position with just over two minutes to go. Du Plessis jumped a guillotine and instantly lost the position to end up on bottom.

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:44 am ET · Brian Campbell]

ROUND 5: Du Plessis swung for the fences early until Chimaev shot and instantly took him down. The challenger works to side position and begins to set up for another possible crucifix. This is one of the most insane, one-sided dismantlings in title history. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:41 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R4: Referee Marc Goddard stood the two fighters up after a lack of action on the ground. Chimaev immediately shot and ate a short knee on the way in but he completed the takedown to continue his dominance. 10-9 Chimaev

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:39 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R4: Du Plessis twice worked his way to his feet only to get instantly taken back down. This is an absolute mauling. Chimaev takes the champ's back and lands a series of short punches before taking side position and applying yet another crucifix. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:37 am ET · Brian Campbell]

ROUND 4: Early body kick from Chimaev. DDP stuffs the first takedown attempt seconds later but Chimaev kept chain wrestling until he took the champion to the ground. Chimaev has connected on 7-of-8 takedown attempts up to this point. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:35 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R3: 10-8 Chimaev

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:35 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R3: Chimaev lands vicious elbows that produce blood once again over the eye of DDP while the champion's arms remained pinned. Chimaev works to mount and DDP gives up his back to survive. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:33 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R3: Chimaev pins down DDP's arms into a crucifix and lands punches to the head. Chimaev cuts the champion with short elbows. This is complete and total domination. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:32 am ET · Brian Campbell]

ROUND 3: Early body kick and short left hook from DDP but Chimaev's first takedown attempt was a huge one as he lifted him along the fence and slammed him. Each time du Plessis attempted to stand up, Chimaev kept his grip around his waist from behind and dragged him right back down. Chimaev lands punches from top position. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:29 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R2: Chimaev spent the entire second half of the round on the champion's back, delivering knees to the thighs. It was complete domination from Chimaev, although he did very little damage. 10-9 Chimaev. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:26 am ET · Brian Campbell]

ROUND 2: Chimaev takes down DDP just as quickly as he did the opening round. After du Plessis stood up, Chimaev never let go of his back and took him right back down. The challenger continued to land knees to the the hips and thighs of the champion. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:24 am ET · Brian Campbell]

R1: Chimaev spent the almost the entirety of the rest of the round in top position as he wrestled DDP to the cage but was unable to land much of consequence in terms of striking. Du Plessis worked back to his feet in the final seconds but was immediately taken back down. 10-9 Chimaev

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:20 am ET · Brian Campbell]

ROUND 1: Chimaev takes DDP down eight seconds into the bout. Du Plessis applied a guillotine choke but ultimately lost position with Chimaev on top. The challenger briefly put DDP into a crucifix and spamming him with short punches to the side of the head. Chimaev is in complete control halfway through the round and still on top.

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:17 am ET · Brian Campbell]

Chimaev just interrupted du Plessis' posing during his announcement by going chest to chest with him as security separated them. 

[Aug 17, 2025 at 12:14 am ET · Brian Campbell]

Referee Marc Goddard is the third man in the cage for the main event.