By the time Dricus Du Plessis makes weight for UFC 319, he will have cut something like 45lb before getting on the scales.
The UFC middleweight champion must weigh in at 185lb or below in order to be eligible to fight for the title, and has never missed throughout his career. Meanwhile, his opponent Khamzat Chimaev has had issues back when he was a welterweight before being forced to permanently move up.
Despite never looking particularly gaunt on the scales, Du Plessis has spoken of the drastic cuts needed to get down to the limit before. And he admits he is not particularly close to that target just over a week out from weigh-ins.
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Dricus Du Plessis faces 45lb weight cut ahead of UFC 319
Dricus Du Plessis is not a small middleweight by any means, but is also far from the biggest to have competed at the weight. He has toyed with the idea of moving up to light-heavyweight in the past, and explained in a recent interview just how his weight cut process is going ahead of next week’s UFC 319.
“I’m still quite a fair bit away from 185lb,” Du Plessis admitted in an interview with the Chicago Sports Network. “But I do walk around at around 225lb to 230lb. That’s my walk-around weight out of camp, of course.
“Then in camp we start to trim down and right now my weight is on track, it’s perfectly where I need it to be at this stage of the fight. We are ten days from weigh-ins right now and this is where the hard part starts. I’m getting my body ready to cut that water and put it back on safely.”
Dricus Du Plessis is open to light-heavyweight move
After explaining the weight cut process, Du Plessis was asked point blank if he plans to make the move up to 205lb. He seemed keen on the idea, noting that the winner of Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev’s rematch is one of the most exciting fights out there.
“That’s been the goal, the long-term goal to move up,” Du Plessis said of a move to light-heavyweight. “I’m still young in my career, 31-years-old means a lot of time left and I’m a firm believer that you need at least three title defences, this will be my third, before you move up.
“Then of course, the division needs to be cleaned out before you move out to the next one. The middleweight division is looking very exciting at the moment, just look at the shuffle in the top five. It’s been the same for many years.
“Then look at the last year, there’s so many changes. Robert Whittaker is out of the top five for the first time in eight years. I’ve fought everybody in the top five until last week, now there’s two new names in there.
“This means the division is getting lively. Otherwise it wouldn’t have made sense for me to stay. But there’s exciting fights now and I’m always in for the new hungry contenders. So let’s see how it happens, but I’m definitely interested at some point in the near future to move up in weight.”