5 Things You Might Not Know About Dricus Du Plessis

Dricus Du Plessis has kept the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division on lockdown for well over a year.

The Team CIT rep finds himself on an 11-fight winning streak that includes a 9-0 record inside the Octagon, where he blends together punishing physicality with battle-tested technique and steely resolve. Du Plessis, 31, last saw action at UFC 312, where he outstruck Sean Strickland and retained the undisputed middleweight championship with a five-round unanimous decision in their Feb. 8 rematch. He boasts 20 finishes—11 by submission, nine by knockout or technical knockout—among his 23 career victories.

As Du Plessis looks ahead to his title defense against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 on Aug. 16 in Chicago, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. Wise investments brought him well-rounded skills.

Du Plessis was born on Jan. 14, 1994 in Welkom, South Africa—a city of some 65,000 people situated 150 miles to the southwest of Johannesburg. He started his formal martial arts training with judo at age 5, then progressed to wrestling. Du Plessis transitioned to kickboxing as a teenager and compiled a 33-0 record with 30 knockouts as an amateur. He attended the University of Pretoria to pursue a degree in agricultural economics before leaving school for a career in mixed martial arts.

2. He made immediate waves.

“Stillknocks” made his professional debut under the Extreme Fighting Championship banner on July 25, 2013 and needed just 78 seconds to cut down Tshikangu Makuebo with punches. Du Plessis went on to win his first four bouts, all of them via stoppage, before Garreth McLellan put him to sleep with a guillotine choke in a failed bid to capture the EFC middleweight crown in August 2014.

3. His resilience has been tested.

Du Plessis rebounded from the McLellan loss and went on to become a two-division champion in EFC. He captured the company’s vacant welterweight crown with a third-round guillotine choke submission of Martin van Staden at EFC 50 on June 17, 2016 and took home its middleweight title with a first-round guillotine choke finish of Yannick Bahati at EFC 62 on Aug. 19, 2017. From there, Du Plessis relocated to Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki and laid clam to the Polish promotion’s welterweight championship with a second-round technical knockout of Roberto Soldic at KSW 43 on April 14, 2018.

4. He proved himself at the highest level.

The 6-foot brute signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2020 and made his organizational debut during the coronavirus pandemic. Wins over Markus Perez, Trevin Giles, Brad Tavares, Darren Till and Derek Brunson cemented Du Plessis as the No. 1 contender at 185 pounds. He then became the 14th undisputed middleweight champion in UFC history when he buried Robert Whittaker with punches in the second round of their July 8, 2023 pairing at UFC 290. His reign now approaches 500 days.

5. He has the makings of a global brand.

Du Plessis has fought in seven different countries. In addition to his native South Africa, he has suited up in Poland, England, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Canda and Australia.