Middleweight champ Du Plessis puts belt on the line against Chimaev at UFC 319

CHICAGO (AP) — Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis will put his belt on the line for the third time against one of the most feared pound-for-pound fighters on the UFC roster. Du Plessis (23-2) will face Khamzat Chimaev (14-0) at a sold-out United Center on Saturday night at UFC 319 as the event returns to Chicago for the first time in more than six years. The blockbuster main event features Du Plessis, who defeated Sean Strickland in a split decision at UFC 297, and defended the belt by beating Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 with a fourth-round submission. The South African beat Strickland in a rematch by unanimous decision at UFC 312 to extend his win streak to 11. Chimaev quickly gained UFC lore when he joined the organization in 2020 and secured three finishes in 66 days. However, Chimaev struggled with illness and became less active. Despite this, he continues to instill fear in his opponents with his violent finishes, including shattering middleweight contender Robert Whittaker's jaw with a face crank submission in his last fight at UFC 308 in October 2024. "This fight is massive and Khamzat is an incredibly good fighter, but what people are going to be saying is the same thing they said after every single one of my fights: He did it again," Du Plessis said. "I will not doubt him again, same old, same old." Chimaev has a simple plan for Saturday and is done with all of the pre-fight talk. "Whatever he says, I don't care about. All of the fighters talk, but nothing is going to change," Chimaev said. "Everyone has to fight in the cage anyway. Whatever he says, I don't care about. I come here to beat him up and take my money and go home." Even with the middleweight championship on the line for the two 31-year-old fighters, the bout serves as a legacy for both men and the UFC. "You have two of the best in the world right now, in their prime, for the title. This is one of the best fights we've had in a long time," UFC president Dana White said Thursday at a raucous news conference attended by fight fans, who heavily booed Du Plessis. Chimaev had to pull out of a fight with Leon Edwards in December 2020. It was first rescheduled in 2021 and then rescheduled for March 2021, but Chimaev was not healthy enough to fight. He was unable to make weight for a welterweight fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 279 in September 2022 and was rescheduled to a 180 catchweight fight against Kevin Holland on the same night. "It's good to see that my opponent is healthy. All of the questions are about whether he is going to show up. It never bothered me, but I know it was a question for everyone," Du Plessis said. "I think it is the hype of this fight. People want to see the two best fighters in the world go at it. And that's why this fight is so big. A lot of times it's just not possible to get the two best guys right now because one is injured, and sometimes the two best guys in the world don't want to fight each other." Chimaev, who has dual citizenship in Russia and the United Arab Emirates, has had at least one takedown in seven of his eight fight appearances. "If this fight is only on the ground, so be it. If this fight is only in the clinch, let's go for it. And if this fight is an all-out brawl in the middle of the octagon, please let's go for that," Du Plessis said. In the co-main event, featherweight challenger Lerone Murphy (16-0-1) will square off against Aaron Pico (13-4). Murphy is taking the fight on short notice to face off against the UFC newcomer. Pico, 28, is making his UFC debut after coming over from Bellator. He was known as a prodigy in the sport. The California native was the top high school wrestler in the country and also a National Junior Golden Gloves Champion. But it didn't come easy. In his first fight, Pico was submitted by Zach Freeman in only 24 seconds at Madison Square Garden in June 2017. "I can laugh about it now, but back then it wasn't funny. Yeah, I haven't had an easy road to get here," Pico said. "I really had to dig deep and ask myself if this is something I really wanted to do. And the answer was always yes, there was never an option to quit." Pico was scheduled to make his UFC debut on July 26 against Movsar Evloev, but Evloev had to pull out because of injury. The UFC scrambled to find another fight for Pico, and Murphy was eager to accept three weeks ago, despite the pros and cons. "I'm a technician so the longer I can study somebody and work on certain things the better," Murphy said, "but in terms of body health, a 12-week camp is a long time." ___ AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports