Khamzat Chimaev towered about Dricus du Plessis, while the couple came for the first time for the first title fight for the first time on Saturday.
The gigantic Swede once fought at welter weight, but he seemed a lot of weight classes above career middleweight du plessis when they met in Chicago prior to UFC 319. Chimaev is the favorite to deduct the seemingly unbounding South African, which has not yet lost under the UFC banner.
And fans certainly noticed the enormous difference in size between the two when they shared a friendly meeting in the Windy City. They will be officially confronted for the first time on Thursday at a press conference before the fight before a final staredown at ceremonial weightings on Friday.
Dricus Du Plessis and the first meeting of Khamzat Chimaev lets fans talk
Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev had their first run-in Vechtweek for UFC 319 and seemed to be very friendly. The South African is known for trolling rivals and stepping into their heads, but chose to stay friendly in video made by Alan do Nascimento.
Fans quickly noticed the apparently gigantic size, inequality, which believes that Chimaev is the former welter weight. “WT- Is Chimaev so big or was it just the corner?” A fan asked. “Khamzat is huge,” wrote another.
Du Plessis did indeed look much smaller when he reached for a shoulder grip to catch his rival. But some theoretized it was a combination of the corner and Chimaev who wore shoes with raised soles. Their officially registered heights are just one centimeter apart on 6'1 and 6'2 respectively.
Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev cut both weight for UFC 319
Both men will have to cut considerable amounts of weight to reach the limit of 185 pounds for Friday's weighting. Du Plessis has stated that his cut could be no less than 45 pounds, and that he still had quite a lot to lose last week.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
“I am still pretty reasonable from 185 pounds,” Du Plessis admitted in an interview with the Chicago Sports Network. “But I walk around 225 pounds to 230 pounds. That is of course my Walk-Around weight from the camp.
In the meantime, Chimaev is said to be blainted to 235 pounds outside the camp. Somehow he made the limit of 171 pound welterweight, but he was forced to go up after regular mistakes and problems with the cut.