Chicago — “You have to go out there and fight.” That’s how middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis views his title defense against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 this Saturday.
Speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press ahead of the fight, “Stillknocks” gave his opinion on how to approach the undefeated, intimidating 14-0 Chimaev.
For one thing, Du Plessis feels Chimaev’s past opponents have made the mistake of waiting, doing nothing offensively until the Chechan takes them down.
“I understand that he’s really good at wrestling and he’s really good on the ground, but that is the game I guess, right? If you’re fighting Israel Adesanya, are you going to start on your bum and try to butt scoot?” questioned Du Plessis. “No, you’re going to have to fight him. That is how it is, and that’s truly how I feel about this fight.”
“Yes he is going to shoot and yes he is probably going to take me down, but I’m going to shoot too, and I’m probably going to take him down. And I’m going to strike and I’m probably going to hit him, and he’s going to strike and probably hit me.”
“I’m not scared of any of that,” the South African continued. “I go into any fight with that mindset, that you might get hit, you’re definitely getting hit, you might get taken down. What do you do after that?”
There’s been a bit of trash talk ahead of this Saturday’s title fight, but for the most part things have been business-like. An encounter between champ and challenger this week produced no drama. So which sort of build-up does Dricus Du Plessis prefer?
“I thought about that, and people have asked me about it – does it get you riled up when you get angry? I never get angry. It’s nothing personal, it’s just business,” stated Du Plessis. “And I’ve said this many times, you can be the biggest asshole in the world, or the nicest guy in the world, I’m still going out there to try to kill you. It’s what I’m here to do.”
So whether Thursday’s press conference is more like DDP and Israel Adesanya, or his presser with Sean Strickland, which were heated, or the more relaxed affairs with Darren Till and Robert Whittaker, Du Plessis isn’t worried. It probably helps that he currently reigns over one of the hottest divisions in the promotion.
Middleweight, a two or three-horse race a few years ago, is a wide open field these days. Spirits are high. Aside from Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, there’s Reinier de Ridder, a former ONE Championship star who just defeated Robert Whittaker, Anthony Hernandez, who put a drubbing on Roman Dolidze last weekend, and a pending showdown between Caio Borralho and Nassourdine Imavov in Paris.
“Man, what a time to be the middleweight champion of the world. It’s an exciting division, and I love it. I love it. Because there’s a lot of guys in the division, there’s a lot of movement. And there’s so many guys putting up their hand to be at the top of the division, but after this, not somebody necessarily putting their hand up to be the next number one contender,” observed Du Plessis. “And that’s exciting because there’s four guys, immediate guys that I can think of that are right there. Any one of them can be that guy, but I think between them, they’re all going to sort it out pretty quickly, and that’s exciting.”
Asked about who has stood out to him, Du Plessis was quick to answer.
“Anthony Hernandez, I have to say. His last fight against Doldize was very, very impressive. Of course the fight with RDR and Whittaker, that was a big test for him [de Ridder], but it was a very, very, very close fight. Some could say dodgy decision, others say it’s the right decision, I don’t even have an opinion on the decision. If they gave that fight to Rob, I would 100% agree, if they gave it to RDR like they did, I 100% agree. It’s one of those fights. But Hernandez was the one, obviously Dolidze was ranked #9 when they fought, but he looked incredible in that fight. He looked incredible. Nobody’s ever done that to Dolidze.”
Watch the full UFC 319 media day appearance by middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis above. The card takes place this Saturday, August 16, 2025 at the United Center in Chicago, IL.
