Dricus Du Plessis: The unlikely champion
Dricus Du Plessis is the unlikely champion.
Watching him fight, it looks like “Stillknocks” doesn’t particularly pass the eye test. Sloppy and all over the place, he’s not the most technical fighter. But he wins.
That said, Du Plessis has defeated three champions in a row: Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya. He rematches Strickland this weekend making it his fourth straight champion faced. His unlikely rise has been nothing short of meteoric.
Dricus Du Plessis: The African king
Dricus Du Plessis has become the first champion that still lives in Africa. This has caused controversy with Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya all being from Africa but residing elsewhere. But “Stillknocks” loves the controversy.
After a spat with Adesanya after capturing the title, the Team CIT champion took on and defeated the middleweight great.
Du Plessis capturing the title from Strickland was his kingmaking but it wasn’t until he defeated Adesanya that he became the king of Africa. Thankfully, the two buried the hatchet afterwards and let bygones be bygones.
How to win: be tough
Dricus Du Plessis may not be the most technical fighter, but he is tough. Insanely tough. The 31-year-old has been in bad spots, hurt, and looked like he was losing control of the fight. Darren Till, Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya, they’ve all teed off on Du Plessis.
But he finds a way to win.
Every single time, Dricus Du Plessis finds a way to dig deep, hurt his opponent, and win the fight, be it by finish like he did with Israel Adesanya, or by decision like his first fight with Sean Strickland. One way or another, Du Plessis finds a way to win.
He will have to do that again at UFC 312. Sean Strickland was a tough fight for the South African the first go round. This time, Strickland will come out to take that title away. Du Plessis will have to do more of the same from the first fight.
