Dricus du Plessis breaks down Islam Makhachev's domination over Jack Della Maddalena: "A style that needs to be figured out"

Islam Makhachev's dominant win over Jack Della Maddalena appears to have given Dricus du Plessis flashbacks of his own loss to Khamzat Chimaev, along with a newfound appreciation for Russian style wrestling.

During a recent interview with Fight Forecast, the former UFC middleweight champion pointed to the current dominance of Russian style wrestling in MMA and how it paved the way for Makhachev's victory:

"Islam had an answer for every single thing JDM threw at him... It kind of looks a lot like the fight with myself and Chimaev. These guys have a style that needs to be figured out, and that's just the way the sport goes... These wrestlers, especially the Russian style wrestlers, just have something above the rest when it comes to wrestling and being able to control the guy on the floor."

Check out Dricus du Plessis' comments on Islam Makhachev's UFC 322 win below:

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'Stillknocks' also gave credit to the Dagestani's camp for investing in leg kicks, recognizing how often his opponent relies on a lead-leg heavy stance.

As du Plessis sees it, Maddalena realized whatever little success he had in the fight, in the clinch. As such, the South African believes JDM should have forced more clinches even if it meant risking getting taken down.

At UFC 322, Makhachev utilized his unparalleled grappling to neutralize the stand-up threat Maddalena is known for. The threat of the takedown left the Australian gun-shy, also susceptible to calf kicks, severely curtailing his mobility midway through the contest.

When the scorecards were read, Makhachev emerged as the new welterweight champion, securing 50-45 across the judges' cards.

Du Plessis' loss to Chimaev at UFC 319 was strikingly similar. 'Borz' employed a wrestling-heavy game from the opening bell, racking up 21:40 minutes of ground control time, leaving little opportunity for his opponent to mount any meaningful offense of the feat.

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When Dricus du Plessis scoffed at Islam Makhachev's chances at middleweight

While Islam Makhachev doesn't seem keen on moving up in weight once more, his coach, Javier Mendez, has on several occasions stated that his pupil could even capture the 185-pound belt if he chose to.

Dricus du Plessis, for one, thinks that is too Herculean a task for the former lightweight champion. During a 2024 interview with Kevin Iole, when 'Stillknocks' still held the middleweight crown, he said:

"Everybody can dream right, and dream big, but he is dreaming real big. I'm very big." [10:07 minutes into the interview]

Edited by Ujwal Jain