The UFC middleweight champion steps into the octagon in the early hours of Sunday morning (SA time).
A relaxed, yet focused Dricus du Plessis showed up at his obligatory Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) media day on Thursday and took the time to take his traditional selfie with the media behind him, even sharing a joke before getting down to the business of answering questions.
The South African UFC middleweight champion steps into the octagon in the early hours of Sunday morning (SA time) for his third title defence, against undefeated Russian Khamzat Chimaev.
“As you could see, he is eight feet tall, I walked into Godzilla,” Du Plessis joked when asked about his first meeting with the Russian during fight week.
DDP was referring to a video clip shared on social media where the two shook hands in a lobby – shot at a very misleading angle where the Russian dwarfed the South African.
The South African is in fact a tiny bit shorter, but the video made it look like there’s a big difference between them.
“He was super respectful, and like I have said, if my opponent is respectful then I will return the respect,” Du Plessis said of that meeting.
Highly anticipated encounter
The build up to this fight has been relatively respectful, with the two trading verbal blows on social media for a while now.
And hopefully they will live up to all the hype come fight night in Chicago on Sunday with many pundits and fans feeling this bout could be one the greatest middleweight title fights of all time.
A lot has been said of the Russian’s world class wrestling pedigree and whether Du Plessis can handle this kind of pressure.
The champion was very blunt in his reply.
“I am not going out there to fight his fight, I am going out there to do what Dricus does, and that is be a world champion.”
Ready to go the distance
Chimaev, a notorious fast starter, has yet to prove he has the fitness to go the championship distance of five five-minute rounds – something Du Plessis has done on numerous occasions.
“He doesn’t change his gameplan. In his last fight (which was a five-round fight), he didn’t think about going the distance. Against me, he should. Five rounds is a very long time,” Du Plessis said.
“I am not scared of going into that dark place. I can fight tired all day and I have done that many times.”
Asked if he preferred the buildup to such a fight to be one of respect like this or one where things get personal like in his previous titles fights, Du Plessis said his approach was always the same.
“I never get angry, it is never personal. It is just business.
“I have said this many times. You can be the nicest guy in the world or the biggest a**hole, I am going out there to try and kill you. It is what I am here to do.”
The talk is almost over and with only the much-anticipated weigh-in left on Friday, fight fans will be hoping this is a bout that goes into the history books as one of the greatest ever.
