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FIRST THINGS FIRST
Welcome to Open Note Grappling.
Every Tuesday morning I send out a breakdown of the best combat sports action. In less than 10 minutes you'll learn how the top fighters win and anything else fighters, martial artists, and fight fans need to know.
It’s finally here. Dricus Du Plessis is defending the middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev. Today we’re going to take a look at the marquee match-up with maybe the most unknowns there have ever been in a title fight.
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Now let’s get into it.
What's In Today's Letter?
After 5 years and 1 month Khamzat Chimaev has earned his title shot. The Chechen juggernaut started his UFC career with 3 wins in less than 2 months. A record that is unlikely to ever be broken.
Then the pace slowed. Dramatically.
1 year to his next fight. And each of his past 3 fights have been roughly a year apart. Chimaev has been plagued by injuries, illness, and visa issues. But the whole time he’s remained undefeated.
Chimaev is the Boogeyman we knew to expect. We just couldn’t say when until now.
Chimaev’s opponent, the reigning and defending Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis (DDP), has had a career almost opposite of that.
Yes, Du Plessis has been dominant. He picked up regional championships in the South African promotion ECW as well as Polish promotion KSW, but he hasn’t made it look easy.
Yeah, I know he’s finished 20 of his 23 wins, but he’s looked straight up goofy doing it! He pulls people on top of him, flops around, and wings wild hands and feet. But the bottom line is it works.
Against all odds, Du Plessis has the belt wrapped around his waste until someone can rip it off his spazzy self. And what else matters in fighting? Who cares about the platonic ideals of pure pugilism if you lose?
Du Plessis’s success is indicative of the fact that MMA is an offensive sport first and foremost. It’s not that a good offense is a good defense. It’s that bulls like Du Plessis can overwhelm opponents with their constant activity and come out on top.
We don’t get Floyd Mayweather shoulder rolling his way to a title or Willie Pep dancing around the ring winning a round without throwing a single strike. We get Khabib Nurmagomedov sprinting at opponents, Kazushi Sakuraba securing a kimura his back gets taken, and Du Plessis cranking people’s faces off after wrestling them to the floor.
But you can’t assume he’ll do that Chimaev. No one has. And, until that changes, you can’t bet with any certitude it will happen next.
Instead, we can look at Du Plessis’s wild activity to try to find how his unorthodox grappling can (maybe) keep him alive long enough to take the win back from Chimaev.
HOW KHAMZAT CHIMAEV FORCES WINS:
Where Chimaev Does His Best Work
Khamzat Chimaev is a wrecking machine. Just look at his record: undefeated with an 86% finishing rate.
What Chimaev does so well is get to his opponents’ hips early and often on the fence. From there, he locks his hands, runs them around, and climbs cross body or all the way to their back.
Chimaev puts Burns down and immediately walks off to his side. Then he hooks the near leg and holds the far hip. He’s controlling both sides of Burns and can hit with his free hand. Burns starts to wrestle up so Chimaev drags him back to his hip so Chimaev can attack side on.
Khamzat Chimaev - Gilbert Burns
But here’s the weird thing. Chimaev’s work rate kind of falls off a cliff when he can’t get to a body lock or ride cross body. And it gets worse as the fight wears on.
Just look at how much less Chimaev does in the second clip below from his fight with Gilbert Burns.
Burns shoots. Chimaev sprawls and looks for a d’arce choke. Burns sits back to guard and Chimaev lets him go. Instead of immediately pressuring forward and trying to punch and pass, Chimaev postures up. Burns kicks him away and gets back to his feet.
Khamzat Chimaev - Gilbert Burns
And here we have Du Plessis’s glimmer of hope. If he can make Chimaev work, get his hands off his hips, and keep him away from his back he has a chance of taking the fight in the later rounds.
So, what does Du Plessis do when he’s forced to fight out of bad positions?
REVERSING YOUR WAY TO A WIN
Dricus Du Plessis’s History Of Fighting Out Of Bad Spots
Dricus Du Plessis’s career has been strange. It’s almost like he chooses to step into the jaws of defeat just so he can have fun hopping out of them.
I went through Du Plessis’s career to find times when he found himself in trouble on the ground and managed to get out. And it’s pretty damn impressive how good he is at getting up from bad positions.
Santos is pulling DDP off of the fence. Santos hooks DDP’s leg to break his base. Santos tries to crawl to DDP’s back so DDP leans onto the fence, palm strikes his face, and uses the new space to dig an under hook. DDP uses that under hook to lift Santos and get back to his feet.
Dricus Du Plessis - Joilton Santos
Du Plessis even made it look easy when he fought former Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker.
Whittaker times a double leg and runs DDP into the wall. DDP holds onto a guillotine as Whittaker hops into side control. Whittaker pikes up over DDP. DDP steps on the cage and kicks his legs away to rise up to a knee. DDP digs an under hook so Whittaker can’t get to his back. Then he stands up.
Dricus Du Plessis - Robert Whittaker
But stuff like this is not why Du Plessis has gained so much fan intrigue. People love watching him because his mid fight movement appears downright silly.
DDP and Lamprecht reset on the feet and collide after some of the sloppiest boxing you’ll ever see. DDP bounces off the fence and turns so Lamprecht grabs a body lock. Lamprecht twists DDP to the floor. When DDP lands on his back he turns in to grab a kimura. Then he uses it to sweep to top position.
Dricus Du Plessis - JC Lamprecht
Du Plessis has gone to the kimura counter in more than one fight to open his opponent’s hands.
DDP is falling off the top of Giles. Giles comes up and gets a body lock. DDP can’t kill Giles’s posture and they walk to the fence. DDP starts hand fighting and grabs a kimura. DDP uses the kimura back roll on top of Giles.
Dricus Du Plessis - Trevin Giles
Du Plessis’s unorthodox grappling has given us some of the craftiest moments I’ve seen in MMA grappling.
DDP uses an empty half guard to move BJJ black belt and D2 All American wrestler Brunson. Then he locks up Brunson’s leg for half guard. Now he can rock side to side to off balance Brunson, make space, and stand up. Brunson tries to jump a guillotine mid scramble and ends up on bottom.
Dricus Du Plessis - Derek Brunson
I mean, he has literally pulled fighters on top of him, only to get up moments later.
Tavares is pressure passing after DDP pulled him down on top of him. DDP sneaks his left butterfly hook in. Now he can elevate Tavares’s hips. Tavares tries to stay active. As soon as his hips rise DDP stands up, shoots a takedown, and runs Tavares into the cage.
Dricus Du Plessis - Brad Tavares
But what’s most important for Du Plessis’s fight with Khamzat Chimaev is his ability to shake people off of his neck. DDP has found himself on the receiving end of several face crank and rear naked choke attempts only to shake people off of his back.
Hawkey is sitting in quarter guard. He postures up to strike. DDP immediately turtles towards the fence. Hawkey has the near hook and far under hook but he gets stuck on the fence. He tries to salvage the scramble by cranking on DDP’s neck. DDP slides out, postures up, and starts striking.
Dricus Du Plessis - Donavin Hawkey
Even against more seasoned grapplers, Du Plessis has been able to turn out of rear naked chokes and fight back to his feet.
Brunson is face cranking with a single hook. His head is on the wrong side. He’s losing chest to back connection. DDP feels it and turns his shoulders to the mat. DDP moves his hips away so he has space to dig an under hook and wall walk back to his feet.
Dricus Du Plessis - Derek Brunson
I’m not an idiot. I’m not going to pretend these guys are nearly as good at grappling as Chimaev is. But that’s not the point.
FIGHTERS, ARTISTS, AND ATHLETES
Killer Consistency Or All Out Aggression?
A few years ago Canadian legend Georges St-Pierre gave us a thoughtful explanation of the different types of people that compete in mixed martial arts; fighters, athletes, and artists.
Fighters are characterized by an unbreakable will and are ready to give up anything to win.
The athletes are the most athletic and the fastest learners. They could probably be succesful at doing any other sport.
The artists are the most creative. They often find different approaches to solve their problems.
Every person has a percentage of each type in themselves. However, one type dominates over the others.
All types have been champion. But I believe it is imperative to find your type in order to optimize your preparation for best results
People like Wanderlei Silva, the Diaz brothers, and Robbie Lawler, are fighters. They don’t care about getting hit as much as they care about giving more back.
St-Pierre himself is the premier example of an athlete. Everything was well trained and timed. All of his work worked.
People like Anderson Silva and Anthony Pettis are artists. Creative. Freely flowing through fights.
Dricus Du Plessis is a fighter. He goes forward and swings. Standing, top, or bottom - it doesn’t matter. He’s giving everything he can for the duration of the fight. And he’s never dropped a single middleweight contest.
Chimaev is an athlete. A buzzsaw prepared to cut through his opponents’ defensive barriers and get to his spots as quickly as possible. He’s done that against all 14 of his opponents but never for a full 25 minutes. He’s only gone past the 7 minute mark twice in his entire MMA career! And that’s what you’re really betting on.
Can Du Plessis keep moving? Will he rope a dope the wrestler? When Chimaev gets his hands locked around Du Plessis’s hips, will the South African flail out of the position until he is free to go on offense like he has before in essentially every fight he’s had? And how will Chimaev respond in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounds?
Chimaev is not the same fighter in the second and third rounds. Why would you assume his first time in the 4th and 5th rounds will be any better?
I wouldn’t. I also wouldn’t assume it will go that far. But that’s why I’m so excited to watch UFC 319 this weekend.
I have no idea how long this fight will last, nor how it will look, and I couldn’t be more stoked to find out.
HELP DESK UPDATES:
Why Fluffy Hernandez Is Beating The Breaks Off Everyone
If there is one fighter who I can’t miss it’s Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez.
You can make a solid argument that Fluffy has the most effective grappling style for MMA. He puts people on the fence for takedowns, uses unorthodox chokes and classic wrestling rides instead of traditional Brazilian jiu-jitsu positions, and sneaks in body strikes during every second of his fights.
Fluffy’s game is a revolution of simplicity. A testament to the truth that in order to be great, you only need to do less, better.
Fluffy is fresh off of a world class ass beating on Roman Dolidze.
Fluffy feints a left and throws a right elbow to fall into double under hooks. Dolidze gives up his back to grab the fence and stay up. Fluffy starts kneeing Dolidze. Dolidze drops to a knee. Fluffy pushes his head down before grabbing a standing rear naked choke. Dolidze submits and Fluffy drops him.
“Fluffy" Hernandez - Roman Dolidze
Fluffy is a key part of my growing guide on how to fight along the fence. If you want to learn how fighters like him, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Randy Couture use the fence to dominate their opponents check out this article on the Help Desk.
If you want to read my guide to fence fighting click here to upgrade your subscription and access the Help Desk. The Help Desk comes with:
A library of technique gifs and explanations
Analysis of classic fights with high level grappling
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LINKS, INSTRUCTIONALS, AND MORE MATCHES TO STUDY:
What Are We Talking About Today?
Want to read more about Khamzat Chimaev? Click here.
Many of Chimaev and Dricus Du Plessis’s fights are freely available on Youtube.
Click here to watch Chimaev’s Brave CF fights.
You can watch Du Plessis’s EFC fights here. And here is his most recent loss to Croatian striking sensation Roberto Soldic.
THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS (you might have missed)
Considering you’re online at all I bet you didn’t miss this news. In 2026 the UFC will be on Paramount+ and CBS and the UFC is getting rid of PPV.
As an MMA fan I couldn’t be more excited to hear this. The market gave us mixed signals though. CBS’s stock price dropped while TKO’s jumped. What’s most interesting to me is what preceded the signing.
Months ago Paramount+ CEO David Ellison was spotted at a UFC event sitting near Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Some even see that attendance and this signing as the Ellison’s attempt to get closer to Trump’s administration.
Ben Askren is still on the road to recovery. BJJ Fanatics released a rash guard to help. If you click here to buy this rash guard, Fanatics will donate 100% of the profits to Ben.
In a similar vein, Daisy Fresh head coach needs eye surgery for a freak accident that happened during a seminar. Click here to donate.
Thanks for reading today. If you enjoyed this piece and want to read more about the top techniques, principles, and stories from the world of fighting upgrade to the Help Desk! The Help Desk has:
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