South African MMA fighter Dricus du Plessis weighed in at a trim 84kg ahead of his UFC Middleweight bout with Brazilian Markus Perez.
Du Plessis is set to make his UFC debut early on Sunday morning when he meets Perez in the Fight Island Octagon.
The former KSW and EFC middleweight champion took the fight at short notice and admitted the pre-fight cut was a testing one but he came through and was on the money at Friday’s weigh-in.
“Weigh-ins done and dusted. On the [money] as always! Short notice fight and the weight cut went absolutely perfect! Thanks to @CoachScottieMac for once again getting me on weight and in phenomenal condition as always, you are truly a mastermind!” Du Plessis Tweeted on Friday thanking conditioning coach Scott MacIntosh for directing his programme with aplomb.
Who is this Joker?
At the face-off post weigh-in, Perez trotted out his popular Joker makeup gimmick while a straight faced Du Plessis was the picture of focused intensity. Dricus for batman, maybe?
Watch Dricus du Plessis face-off with Markus Perez
Dricus Du Plessis a finisher
Submission specialist Du Plessis has never been taken the distance in a professional MMA fight. Nine of his 14 victories have come by submission with his weapon of choice being the guillotine choke.
Du Plessis is expected to keep his distance and use his superior reach to keep the Brazilian mat-grappler at a safe distance. Stillknocks is known for being defensively sound and methodical, and if the Brazilian doesn’t get him to the mat early, Du Plessis could walk away with a maiden UFC win at Fight Island: Moraes vs Sandhagen.
Perez is coming off a loss, but he is an experienced and dangerous fighter, and weigh-in gimmicks aside is a serious opponent who will test the highly-rated du Plessis’ credentials.
UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs Sandhagen Weigh-In Results
Weight in pounds (lbs).
Main Card
Main Event: Marlon Moraes (136) vs Cory Sandhagen (136)
Co-Main Event: Edson Barboza (145.5) vs Makwan Amirkhani (146)
Ben Rothwell (265) vs Marcin Tybura (263)
Markus Perez (186) vs Dricus Du Plessis (186)
Tom Aspinall (252) vs Alan Baudot (254)
Youssef Zalal (146) vs Ilia Topuria (146)