Why does Dricus Du Plessis claim himself to be an African? Here's what Kamaru Usman has to say about it

The First African-born UFC champion in history, Kamaru Usman, was not happy when Dricus du Plessis expressed the desire to become the only "legitimate" African UFC champion. The remarks have been criticized by many, especially due to Du Plessis' ethnicity.

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Why does Dricus Du Plessis claim himself to be an African?

Dricus du Plessis is an Afrikaner, which is a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who arrived in Africa in the 1650s. He was born and raised in Welkom, South Africa. Du Plessis represents the Team CIT MMA based in Hatfield, Pretoria.

While African UFC champions like Kamaru Usman, Israel Adesanya, and Francis Ngannou are ethnically African and were born on the continent, all three of them live and train elsewhere. While Usman and Ngannou now reside in the USA, Adesanya's family moved to New Zealand when he was a teenager.

Du Plessis believes himself to be the first African-born UFC champion because he is the only one who captured the title while living and training in Africa.

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When Kamaru Usman responded to Dricus du Plessis' claims of being the first African-born UFC champion

Dricus du Plessis ruffled some feathers with his comments following his win over Derek Brunson at UFC 285 in early 2023. He suggested that he is a true African, unlike Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya, for the reasons mentioned earlier.

Kamaru Usman gave a cold response to 'Stillknocks' in a press conference. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' suggested that simply being raised and living in South Africa does not make someone more African:

"The one thing he's failing to realize is just because I go to China, and my parents are in China, and I'm raised in China, that doesn't make me more Chinese than people from China. Just because you went over to South Africa and you were raised there, that doesn't make you African."

The former UFC welterweight champion added:

"These younger guys and these newer guys, they get up here and they just talk because they want to appeal to the fans and appeal to the people, but try to be more mindful because 20 years from now, that's not going to age well."

It is worth noting that Usman was born in Nigeria before he moved to the United States of America with his family at eight years old in search of a better life. However, he hasn't forgotten his roots and has done more than enough to give back to the people of Africa.

Watch the full press conference below:

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Dricus Du Plessis reiterated his stance on being African after backlash

Although a section of the MMA community heavily criticized Dricus Du Plessis for claiming to be the first potential African UFC champion, the 30-year-old stayed firm on his opinion.

While interacting with journalists on the UFC 285 media day, Du Plessis countered the argument about Israel Adesnya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou being the African champions and said:

“Did those belts ever go to Africa? As far as I know, they came to America and New Zealand. I’m going to take a belt to Africa. I’m the African fighter in the UFC. Myself and Cameron (Saaiman), we breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa, we’re African born, we’re African raised, we still reside in Africa, we train out of Africa – that’s an African champion, and that’s who I’ll be.”

Catch Du Plessis's comments below (10:07):