Khamzat Chimaev burst onto the UFC scene in the summer of 2020, finishing his first three opponents in barely two months with thrashing performances. He continued to pile up impressive numbers, and even after injuries, illnesses and other factors slowed his roll, he remained undefeated and eventually made it to a title fight at last Saturday’s UFC 319.
Once again, Chimaev was dominant, seizing the UFC middleweight championship from Dricus Du Plessis. Once again, Chimaev put up big numbers.
How big? Here are some numbers from one of the most lopsided fights in UFC history, courtesy of ESPN Research and UFC Stats.
529 strikes landed: Chimaev smashed the record for most strikes landed in a UFC fight previously held by Max Holloway, who landed 447 in his 2021 bout with Calvin Kattar. The previous record for strikes in a UFC title fight was 336 by Kamaru Usman in his 2019 win over Tyron Woodley.
37 to 13 in significant strikes: Although Chimaev landed 529 total strikes, only 37 were designated significant, which is defined as a blow with enough power to cause damage or movement in an opponent. Chimaev absorbed only 45 total strikes from Du Plessis, 13 of which were deemed significant.
1 significant strike: In Round 1, Chimaev had a 131-3 advantage in total strikes but was credited with only one significant strike. Du Plessis did not land a significant strike until the third round.
12 takedowns: Chimaev executed the second-most takedowns in a UFC middleweight fight (Makhmud Muradov had 13 against Bryan Barberena in 2023). Chimaev’s total, which came on 17 attempts, is tied for the third-most in a UFC title fight and the most since Demetrious Johnson landed 14 in a flyweight title bout in 2015. In Du Plessis’ nine previous UFC fights, his opponents had landed a total of three takedowns.
21 minutes, 40 seconds of control time: Chimaev controlled Du Plessis on the canvas for 87% of the 25-minute fight. In four of the five rounds, he had more than four minutes of ground control time.
0 submission tries: Despite being on top of Du Plessis for nearly the entire fight, Chimaev wasn’t credited with a submission attempt. Du Plessis notched a submission attempt in less than a minute of control time.
3 undefeated middleweight title-holders: Chimaev, at 15-0, joins Israel Adesanya (18-0 after dethroning Robert Whittaker in 2019) and Chris Weidman (10-0 after knocking out Anderson Silva in 2013) as the only 185-pounders to win UFC titles while undefeated. Chimaev and Ilia Topuria are the only current undefeated UFC champions.
9 straight UFC wins: Chimaev is tied for the third-longest active winning streak in the Octagon, behind Islam Makhachev (15) and Merab Dvalishvili (13).
1 champion: Chimaev is the first fighter representing the United Arab Emirates to win a UFC title. He was born in the Chechen Republic in Russia and lived in Sweden for 10 years before moving to the UAE in 2023 and gaining citizenship in January.