Aug 16, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, UNITED STATES; Dricus Du Plessis Murphy (red gloves) fights Khamzat Chimaev (blue gloves) during UFC 319 at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Coach Morne Visser Breaks His Silence After Dricus Du Plessis’ Crushing Defeat To Khamzat Chimaev At UFC 319

MMA can be a cruel sport sometimes. One moment you are the king of the mountain, the next moment, you are flat on your back wondering what to do. That’s exactly what happened to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319, where he lost his middleweight title to Khamzat Chimaev in devastating fashion. The South African fighter who had looked so dominant in his previous title defenses suddenly found himself completely overwhelmed by Chimaev’s relentless wrestling attack.

For months leading up to the fight, Du Plessis and his team knew they were facing something special in Chimaev. The Chechen fighter had been steamrolling through opponents with his suffocating grappling style. His ability to take opponents down and control them on the ground was already legendary in MMA circles. Du Plessis had built his reputation as a striker with a weird style, who could knock anyone out cold, but everyone knew this fight would likely end up on the canvas. Now, in the aftermath of that crushing defeat, coach Morne Visser has finally opened up about what went wrong and what comes next for his star pupil.

Dricus Du Plessis Practiced Everything Except What Mattered!

Visser didn’t sugarcoat the reality of their preparation when he sat down for his first interview with Submission Radio since the loss. His team had dedicated most of their training camp to wrestling, knowing full well that Chimaev would try to drag Du Plessis into deep waters on the ground. They spent countless hours working on takedown defense, scrambles, and getting back to their feet. But as Visser admitted with brutal honesty, they had practiced everything except the one position that ended up costing them the fight: the crucifix.

“W𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙭… 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙆𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙯𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤. 𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙛****ng 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙩. 𝙎𝙤 𝙄’𝙢 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝘼𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙪𝙨.”

Coach Morne Visser explains wrestling was a focus for Dricus Du Plessis going into #UFC319 however he now knows exactly what kind of preparation needs to be done ahead of a potential rematch with Khamzat Chimaev! 🏆

“𝙬𝙚'𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩… pic.twitter.com/IDrJNXOKcf
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) August 18, 2025

The crucifix position became Chimaev’s signature weapon during the fight, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. The opponent’s arms are spread out like they are being crucified while the fighter rains down punishment from above. Visser explained that Chimaev never gave the South African any room to breathe or work his striking game. It was a masterclass in suffocating grappling that left Du Plessis looking helpless for long stretches of the contest.

Coach Is Adamant That Dricus Du Plessis Won’t Stay Down

Despite the crushing defeat, Visser made one thing crystal clear. This isn’t the end of Du Plessis’ championship story. The coach’s fire was still burning bright as he declared that he won’t sleep until they have reclaimed that middleweight title.

“𝙄’𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙬𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠… 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠… 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘼𝙎𝘼𝙋. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮. 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙩. 𝙏𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙮𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙪𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙮𝙡𝙚 𝙈𝙈𝘼, 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙬𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙬𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙛 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣.”

Exclusive: Coach Morne Visser REACTS to UFC 319, Explains @dricusduplessis is coming back for the belt ASAP!

“𝙄'𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙬𝙚'𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠. 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮'𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙮, ‘𝙃𝙚𝙮,… pic.twitter.com/1ty4T8t61b
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) August 18, 2025

The coach’s confidence hasn’t wavered one bit, even after watching his fighter get dominated for five rounds. He promised that they will surprise everyone by taking that belt back again, and soon. Whether that confidence is justified remains to be seen, but fans can’t question the man’s determination.

(Image Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski – Imagn Images)

Dricus Du Plessis

Khamzat Chimaev

Morne Visser

UFC 319

Zaid Quraishi

mma

I am a dedicated MMA and Boxing content writer at The Playoffs. I was instantly hooked on MMA after watching the fight between Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi back in 2014, and since then, i have been an avid writer with a deep love for the sport and its techniques, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the sport. My favorite aspect of working at The Playoffs is the creative freedom it provides. The diverse range of topics, from listicles and SEO to news articles, keeps me engaged and motivates me to continuously improve my skills! I aim to capture the excitement of the combat sports world in my writing, acting as the middleman between fighters and their die-hard fans. It is kind of like a referee, but with words!