Dricus Du Plessis shuts down claims that Khamzat Chimaev looked a lot bigger than him in their encounter.
Middleweight champion Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) defends his title against Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 319 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) main event at United Center in Chicago.
Du Plessis crossed paths with Chimaev during fight week, where the pair shared a cordial handshake. Many commented on the size difference between the two, but Du Plessis assures that’s not the case.
“I mean, maybe it was the angle,” Du Plessis told Helen Yee. “I haven’t seen the video, but I can promise you – you’ll see, you’ll see. I stood in front of him. He is definitely not taller than me. Maybe a little, maybe like, half an inch. Yeah, you’ll see. And the other thing, I don’t give a sh*t how big he is. It’s not what wins fights. But yeah, I saw him, he’s definitely not bigger than me.”
Episode 3 of UFC Embedded shows a different angle of their run-in.
“He was very respectful. He came over and said hello,” Du Plessis said. “I mean, the fight is happening on Saturday night. People aren’t paying to see this. Yeah, it could have gone either way. But now we know.”
