Victory against Chimaev is no different to any of my preceding victories, says Du Plessis
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis, emphasised that beating the number three-ranked middleweight fighter Khamzat Chimaev will carry the same weight as beating any of his opponents in the UFC thus far, despite Chimaev being highly rated.
Du Plessis will face Chimaev at UFC 319 in Chicago in the early hours on Sunday morning (South African time), a fighter that many consider to be "The boogeyman" of the UFC.
Because of the dominant nature of the majority of Chimaev's victories in the UFC, coupled with his unbeaten record in his career, many fighters fear him, making him one of the highly rated fighters that the South African has faced in his career.
However, despite all the aforementioned reasons, Du Plessis made it clear that beating Chimaev does not carry any more weight than beating Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland or any of his opponents in the UFC.
The trash talk king added that Chimaev has been respectful to him, a feat that contributed in the lack of trash talk or banter in the pre-fight press conference on Friday.
"This will mean for me exactly what it meant to beat every other guy before this. It's not about the opponent, it's not about who I face, it's about defending this belt every time somebody steps up to try and take it from me. That's all that matters to me," said Du Plessis.
"This is the first time meeting him this week. I don't know the man. He seems respectful up until now, that's why there's no trash talk."
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