5 fascinating facts about UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis

This weekend at UFC 312, Dricus du Plessis will attempt to defend his middleweight title for the second time. It's arguably the biggest fight of his career.

Dricus du Plessis has undoubtedly had a meteoric rise through the ranks of the UFC and now stands as one of the promotion's biggest stars.

If he can defeat Sean Strickland in Sydney this weekend, there's a chance that he could be on a path to becoming an all-time great of the octagon.

Before his big defense, here are five fascinating facts about UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.

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#5. Dricus du Plessis is a consummate finisher

This weekend, Dricus du Plessis will face off with the man from whom he took the UFC middleweight title, Sean Strickland.

The first time that 'Stillknocks' fought Strickland, the bout went to a razor-close split decision that saw the South African come out on top.

Remarkably, the win meant du Plessis became just the fourth fighter in modern UFC history to win a title via split decision, following Robbie Lawler, Dominick Cruz and Carla Esparza.

However, it's safe to say that the bout with 'Tarzan' was the exception, rather than the rule. The fight actually marked just the second time du Plessis had gone the distance in his career, which dates back to 2013 and spans 24 fights and 22 wins.

Of those 22 wins, nine have come via TKO and eleven via submission, although only eight of these finishes came in the first round.

The only fighter other than Strickland to take 'Stillknocks' the distance? Veteran Brad Tavares, who up to that point, had only been finished three times.

Essentially, du Plessis is not just a tremendous champion, but he's also a consummate finisher, too.

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#4. Dricus du Plessis is the first UFC champion from South Africa

While the UFC has yet to visit the country, South Africa has been a hotbed for MMA for some years now.

While the country's EFC Africa promotion is not as big as the UFC, it is the biggest promotion on the continent and has a cult following.

It should come as no surprise, then, that plenty of its fighters and champions have ended up in the UFC, Dricus du Plessis being one of them.

However, it's arguable that 'Stillknocks' is the only fighter from EFC Africa to really succeed inside the octagon, thriving where the likes of Dalcha Lungiambula and Garreth McClellan struggled.

Unsurprisingly, then, Dricus du Plessis stands as the only South African fighter to date to claim a UFC title. In fact, while he's the third African-born UFC champion - following Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou - 'Stillknocks' is the only titleholder to actually train in Africa.

In the future, perhaps, we'll see more African champions emerge into the octagon. For now, though, du Plessis is definitely an outlier.

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#3. Dricus du Plessis' coach uses some odd methods

While the sport of MMA is home to some highly reputable coaches, including the likes of Greg Jackson and Rafael Cordeiro, many others have become renowned for more unorthodox methods.

Brazil's famed Chute Boxe Academy, for instance, was well-known for the way that its fighters would take part in sparring sessions that were essentially full-contact brawls.

Diego Sanchez's one-time coach Joshua Fabia, meanwhile, rose to notoriety when a clip of him chasing his fighters with a knife during training made its way onto social media.

Most of these unorthodox coaches have unsurprisingly struggled to make their fighters succeed.

However, while Dricus du Plessis has risen up the ladder to become UFC middleweight champion, it's safe to say that his head coach Morne Visser uses some unconventional methods in his gym.

In the Countdown to UFC 305 show prior to du Plessis' bout with Israel Adesanya, Visser was shown using a taser to shock his fighters when they made a mistake during training. One notable clip showed the coach shocking du Plessis' feet.

Whether this footage was a spoof of some kind is unknown. However, Visser certainly looked serious. If this is the case, then based on the success 'Stillknocks' has had in the UFC, it could be argued that this unorthodox method works!

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#2. Dricus du Plessis is the only man to submit Israel Adesanya

While Dricus du Plessis tends to get talked up as a heavy-handed striker, largely on the strength of his knockout win over Robert Whittaker, there's an argument that his grappling is his greatest strength.

After all, as we discussed earlier, 'Stillknocks' actually holds more wins via submission - 11 - than he does via KO or TKO.

However, while only two of those tapout wins have come in the octagon, suggesting perhaps that du Plessis' grappling was more effective against lesser foes, one of those wins could be seen as his signature victory.

That win, of course, came over legendary former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya last summer.

Remarkably, despite 'The Last Stylebender' being renowned as almost a pure striker with a questionable ground game, Dricus du Plessis is, in fact, the only fighter to ever submit him and just the second to finish him.

It's impressive, to say the least, and suggests that, despite some observers deriding 'Stillknocks' as a sloppy fighter, he is in fact highly skilled.

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#1. Dricus du Plessis is the only UFC fighter to appear on The Masked Singer

The UFC has often seen its fighters branch out over the years, with a number of them finding themselves in acting roles both in movies and on television.

Former stars Paige VanZant and Chuck Liddell, meanwhile, have even appeared on reality show Dancing with the Stars, which is about as far from MMA as you could get.

However, 'The Iceman' and '12 Gauge' aren't the only fighters who've appeared on an unlikely reality show.

Based initially on a Korean TV show, The Masked Singer has quickly become a worldwide phenomenon. The show features celebrities singing famous songs while wearing outlandish costumes to disguise their identity, while a panel of judges attempt to work out who they are.

In 2024, the South African version of the show saw 'Wildebeest' busting out versions of tracks by Robbie Williams and OneRepublic, before being shockingly unmasked as none other than Dricus du Plessis.

The clips of 'Stillknocks' on the show immediately went viral, with UFC fans being stunned at how well the middleweight champion could hold a tune.

Unsurprisingly, to date, Dricus du Plessis is the only UFC fighter to appear on the singing show, and the fact that he made it work is a testament to his charisma, as well as his voice.