UFC 319 is a matter of hours away with fans eagerly anticipating one of the biggest fights of the year.
The encounters between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev during fight week have only increased the excitement for their middleweight title fight.
Both men were in good form at the press conference, with the champion playing up to his villain role while ‘Borz’ received a huge amount of support in Chicago.
Ahead of August 16, du Plessis’ coach was incredibly critical of Chimaev’s striking before they try to solve the undefeated challenger’s puzzle.
He now believes that they may have a psychological advantage after what happened on Thursday.
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Dricus du Plessis’ coach believes that Khamzat Chimaev showed ‘weakness’ when he acted up after backing away
While their face-off at the ceremonial weigh-ins ended up being much more intense, the first stare down between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev took place after the press conference.
The face off certainly built some extra excitement for the main event of UFC 319 but there aren’t many fans that would have looked much further into it.
This wasn’t the case for du Plessis’ head coach, Morne Visser, who believes that there were several important things to take from this.
Along with believing that the champion established dominance by holding his hands higher than his opponent, Visser highlighted Chimaev’s actions.
“If you look at that face off, you know when there’s two guys fighting in the street and one guy gets pulled away and his buddies kind of save him. Dana came in between and he pushed them apart and only then, Khamzat made a big noise.
“Why wasn’t he so arrogant when he was standing right in front of Dricus? That’s just weird for me. That just shows a little bit of weakness. If you want to be tough, be tough in front of the guy, don’t walk away and then shout stupid things.”
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Dricus du Plessis’ coach gives props to Khamzat Chimaev after slating him ahead of the fight
The video of Morne Visser stating that he wouldn’t give Khamzat Chimaev a pro license attracted some attention ahead of UFC 319.
Dricus du Plessis’ coach spoke very negatively about their next opponent’s overall skillset while praising his fighter.
While he did go on to critique Chimaev’s striking again, specifically referring to the fact that he doesn’t offer much offense outside of his punches, Visser did give credit to the challenger.
“Let’s be honest, he’s great,” Visser told Submission Radio. “He’s doing a phenomenal job. Dana will never ever give him, Hunter will never ever give him this opportunity if they don’t think he’s going to be able to become champion. I’ve got to give him credit.
“I know I gave him a lot of s— before the fight, but this is go time. This is where everything comes together so nothing can change what we’ve done up to now. I’ve got to give him respect, he’s a good fighter. He’s actually a phenomenal fighter.”