Dricus du Plessis

Dricus du Plessis is genuinely one of the most compelling stories in combat sports right now, and I say that as someone who wasn't sure what to make of him at first. A kid from Welkom in the Free State — not exactly a combat sports hotbed — who trained his way to the top of the UFC's Middleweight division and became the first South African ever to win a UFC championship. That's not a small thing. What I love about him is the swagger isn't hollow: he fights with this aggressive, come-forward pressure that makes every round feel like it could end at any second. He's not the most polished technician in the division, but he has a killer instinct and a chin to match, and that combination gets you places. Watching him dethrone Sean Strickland at UFC 297 in early 2024 was a genuinely satisfying moment — a grinder who just refused to lose.

Name (English)

Dricus du Plessis

Name (Japanese)

ドリカス・デュ・プレシ

Reading

どりかす・でゅ・ぷれし

Born

January 14, 1994 (age 32)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Capricorn / Dog

Origin

Welkom, Free State, South Africa

Height

185 cm

Occupation

kickboxer / mixed martial arts fighter

University

University of Pretoria

• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/dricusduplessis/
• Xhttps://x.com/dricusduplessis
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dricus%20du%20Plessis
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AB%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BB%E3%83%87%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BB%E3%83%97%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B7
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48870794

Tags

• Free State
• kickboxer
• mixed martial arts fighter

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.