Khamzat Chimaev strips naked to make weight for Dricus Du Plessis fight

Khamzat Chimaev has completed a near 40lb body transformation, weighing in for his middleweight title fight against Dricus Du Plessis on Saturday night.

Chimaev is set to challenge defending champion Du Plessis at UFC 319 in Chicago this Saturday night. After being required to strip naked, the Russian successfully weighed in on Friday at 183lb, a staggering 37lb lighter than when he began training camp for the most significant fight of his career.

"When he fought Whittaker he just took him down and broke him" said Chimaev's friend and training partner Movsar Evloev on the Overdogs podcast. "Nobody had done this against Whittaker, and Khamzat still has big power of punching, he can turn off your lights with one punch.

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"I think he's even bigger than Du Plessis, of course he is; he's big and strong as hell. I don't know how much in pounds, but he was more than 100kg (220lb)."

Later, champion Du Plessis weighed in at the limit of 185lb as he gears up to defend his belt for the third time, a title he won from Sean Strickland last year, reports All Out Fighting.

Chimaev has competed just four times in the past three years, with his most recent bout occurring last October when he finished Robert Whittaker in the opening round. The champion has issued a stark warning ahead of their clash.

"You can be the biggest asshole in the world or the nicest guy in the world, I'm still going out there to try and kill you. People want to see the two best fighters in the world go at it, and it's why this fight is so big," Du Plessis said.

"A lot of times it's not possible to get the two best guys [to fight], because one is injured and sometimes the two best guys in the world don't want to fight each other. Because it's tough and there can be only one winner. I want to fight the best in the world, and now people can see it."

Reflecting on their recent face-off, Du Plessis continued: "There was nothing but respect. He said to me that he's happy that I'm healthy and ready to go, and I said to him, 'right back at you.' It doesn't always have to be that hostile, but when the cage closes, I'm in there to kill him.

"I'm better than him in every single aspect. I'm built different and I'm the champion for a reason and he's gonna find out on Saturday night. The goal always remains the same: to be the greatest ever do this sport."