Dricus du Plessis
“Stillknocks”
#2 MiddleweightRecord 23-3South AfricaTeam CIT (Pretoria)
The style
Chaos Pressure Fighter
Awkward switch-stance rhythm · Relentless pace · Sneaky submissions
GrapplingStriking
The first South African UFC champion — he took the middleweight belt from Sean Strickland in January 2024 and defended it twice, submitting Israel Adesanya and outpointing Strickland in the rematch. Khamzat Chimaev ended the run with a one-sided smothering at UFC 319, his first loss since 2018. Nobody fights like him: ugly on purpose, always moving forward, and 20 of 23 wins by finish. This is his rebuild fight, off an 11-month layoff.
Tale of the tape
| Record | 23-3 |
| Age | 32 |
| Height | 6'1" |
| Reach | 76" |
| Stance | Switch |
| Country | South Africa |
| Team | Team CIT (Pretoria) |
The numbers
Career UFC averages.
| Sig. strikes landed / min | 5.18 |
| Striking accuracy | 48% |
| Sig. strikes absorbed / min | 4.33 |
| Striking defense | 52% |
| Takedowns / 15 min | 2.22 |
| Takedown accuracy | 51% |
| Takedown defense | 34% |
| Submission attempts / 15 min | 0.7 |
How they win
9 KO/TKO11 SUB3 DEC
How they lose
1 KO/TKO1 SUB1 DEC