In Chicago, Khamzat Chimaev and Drick Du Plessi will fight on the night of August 17 in the main event of the UFC 319. Before the start of the title fight for the medium -weight of Chimaev and du Plessi, they did not let fans get bored: the fighters staged a brawl at the final battle of views.

The most important fight for rivals

The acting champion Dricus du Plessi from South Africa has already defended the title twice. The last time, Du Plessi went out into the octagon in February and won the Son Strickland. In total, he has 23 victories on his account (9 knockout, 11 surrender, 3 solution) and 2 defeats (1 knockout, 1 surrender).

Despite the solid statistics and the presence of a championship belt, Drick is constantly criticized. Many experts and fans call the South African a “clumsy” fighter who at some point was lucky to be at the top of his weight category. The athlete even has to make excuses.

– Many people look down at my style and they say that he is terrible. I’m not here to look beautiful. My goal is to fight and win at all costs, try to kill the guy in front of you. I can fight like a crazy one, because I train like that, ”the Sportskeeda portal quotes Du Plessian.

The fight against Hamzat Chimaev is an opportunity for Drikus once and for all put all the critics in place, because a fighter of Russian origin, performing under the flag of the UAE, is a favorite and did not yet know the defeats in his career. Chimaev has ideal statistics – 14 victories (6 knockout, 6 doses, 2 solutions) and 0 lesions.

Hamzat even began a performance in promotion with a unique record, winning three fights in just 66 days. Prior to this, the achievement belonged to Brazilian Johnny Warker, who needed 105 days for this. The last time Chimaev fought at the end of October last year: he destroyed Robert Wittaker in the first round, taking the Australian at the painful reception.

“He has one day left”

On the night of August 16, a weighing ceremony was held: the weight of the applicant was 83 kg, the South African – 83.91 kg. During her, Chimaev and Du Plessi almost fought. They tried to arrange a fight again during the final battle of views, but they were smashed in time. Drikus was very lucky that they were divorced in different corners. After all the events, the fighters did not miss the opportunity to mentally affect the opponent.

Dricus du Plessat and Hamzat Chimaev / Photo: © Ed mulholland / Contributor / UFC / Gettyimages.ru

“I’ll just go out and destroy this guy.” One day, he has one day left. Tomorrow he is a corpse, ”Chimaev said during a press conference after the end of the ceremony.

The champion also emotionally responded to events.

“He is a real beast as an opponent, but this is what I say – I will put him to sleep, whether it be submishen or a knockout.” I will endure your boyfriend, ”said Du Plesha during the press conference after the end of the ceremony.

Chimaev finally reached for the first title battle, and the South African received a chance to get rid of criticism, so it is not surprising that the motivated fighters almost made a fight before he entered Octagon. From this, it will be even more interesting to observe their confrontation.

See the direct broadcast of the UFC tournaments on the TV channels “Match TV” and “Match! Fighter ”, as well as Matchtv.ru and Sportbox.ru sites.