Dricus Du Plessis’ MMA losses: Has ‘Stillknocks’ ever lost in UFC?

A fighter claiming the middleweight championship title shot in only his seventh fight under the biggest MMA promotion is a clear testament to his prowess. Thus evidently, Dricus Du Plessis is the cream of the crop, alongside being an excellent heel and provocateur to boot of course, willing to get in verbal confrontations with his opponents. He did the same oh so effectively against Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland!

In short, the South African is the total package; he does everything that could be asked of a mixed martial artist and does it well. Even though he has remained undefeated in the UFC, he has a couple of losses inked in his MMA records. Today, let us take a look at all the losses on ‘Stillknocks’s record.

Who has Dricus Du Plessis lost to?

While Dricus Du Plessis has won all six of his fights in the UFC, he has two losses on his record he suffered before joining the premier promotion. The 30-year-old’s first loss came against Garreth McLellan in 2014 under the banner of Extreme Fighting Championship in his sixth professional fight. At EFC 33, McLellan defeated Du Plessis by executing a guillotine choke in the third round of their bout.

The middleweight champion’s only other loss was in 2018 when Roberto Soldic knocked out him in the third round at the KSW 45. Nevertheless, except for these blemishes ‘DDP’ has a stellar record and managed to become champion in both, EFC and KSW where he fought before joining the UFC.

While the South African mixed martial artist has a second-degree black belt in kickboxing, making him a very dangerous striker, most of his wins have come via submission. Ten of his 21 wins have come via submission but this trend has changed in the UFC.

How exactly has the South African mixed martial artist fared in the Octagon? Let’s take a look at the MW champ’s UFC record.

Dricus Du Plessis’ perfect UFC record

Under the banner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Du Plessis has won five of his fights via knockout or technical knockout and only one of his six wins have been via submissions. But the trend began at UFC Fight Night 179, where he defeated Markus Perez with a KO in the very first round. The trend continued as he took control of his fight against Trevin Giles at UFC 264, and won via KO in round 2. However, he couldn’t secure a finish bonus in his third UFC bout against Brad Tavares at UFC 276, as he won it via unanimous decision.

UFC 282 witnessed Du Plessis take another victory by submitting Darren Till with a face crank. ‘Stillknocks’ fought Derek Brunson in his next bout and won again via TKO. But it was his last couple of fights, against Robert Whittaker and Strickland, that showed the world how strong Du Plessis actually is. Defeating ‘Tarzan’ ensured that the MW belt went to South Africa, fulfilling Du Plessis’ dream.

With a perfect record in the UFC and an impressive 9-fight win streak, Du Plessis will defend his middleweight belt for the first time against Adesanya, at UFC 305. Who will win in the upcoming bout? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.