Dricus du Plessis booed by crowd ahead of UFC 319 fight
The 31-year-old South African will defend his title against his Russian opponent at the United Centre in Chicago.
Last January, the Pretoria MMA fighter beat the US's Sean Strickland in a split decision to win the coveted title. A few months later, in August, he defended it against Nigerian-born fighter Israel 'Izzy' Adesanya, whom he beat via submission.
Earlier this year, in February, he beat Strickland again in a rematch.
On Thursday, 14 August, Dricus du Pless and Khamzat Chimaev made their appearance at a press conference ahead of their UFC 319 main event fight.
Dricus – considered the underdog – was asked about his state of mind going up against the Russian fighter, who has been undefeated in his last 14 matches.
The crowd consisted of fans of his opponent, who loudly booed the South African.
Dricus casually stated, 'I've walked into every fight, especially as the main event, and heard this from the crowd. But guess what? I walked out the best every single time
Addressing the hostile crowd, he added, 'That was one of the best boos I've heard. Well done. You'll run out of steam quickly, don't worry. I've seen this before. Remember this on Saturday.'
Dricus du Plessis revealed that he was unfazed about going up against an undefeated MMA fighter.
He continued: 'I'm the world champion. He hasn't fought a world champion. He's fought a former world champion, but he hasn't fought a world champion.
'Now he's coming into this fight for five rounds. I've proven that I can go crazy for one round, or I can go crazy for five rounds.'
Praising his opponent, Dricus added of Khamzat Chimaev: 'He is an incredible fighter.
'Nobody's been able to beat him. It's only 14 fights, but being a title challenger in the UFC, and no one's been able to figure him out, that's impressive'.
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