Khamzat Chimaev was essentially crowned a future UFC champ from the moment he made his promotional debut in 2020. Five years later, he finally made good on those early expectations. Chimaev (15-0) claimed the middleweight championship at UFC 319 on Saturday night inside United Center in a dominant showing over Dricus Du Plessis (23-3).

In a display of dominance that outdid even his path to the title, Chimaev spent five rounds smothering the life out of what was once an impressive champion, winning by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44) to take the UFC middleweight belt.

Khamzat Chimev grinned with a smile of pure menace in the seconds before his 25 minutes of domination started. He knew what everyone else was about to find out.