It’s a wonder that Dricus Du Plessis became the middleweight champion with the style that he has. Explosive movements, looping shots, and constant stance switches provide multiple openings for sharp shooting strikers to put him away. But what is the differentiating factor? It’s his relentless “Never Back Down” attitude, reflected in his off-the-cuff comebacks when his opponents try to get under his skin. What he says is awkward, but it does land. So does his fighting style. Despite the downright ‘awkward’ style that he has, ‘Stillknocks’ has proved himself with his unorthodox approach. What’s amusing in this case, though? Even his parents think his style is funny.

Perhaps the secret to DDP’s style lies in his upbringing, where the South African champion spoke about how roasting and being roasted was a common part of growing up in his household. It’s no wonder that Du Plessis is unfazed in the face of the most vicious thrash talk, even making former champions cry with his one-liners. So it was no surprise when he opened up about the absolute disbelief of his parents at him winning the belt with the style that he has.

So what did his folks say? Well, the conversation happened when ‘Stillknocks’ became the #5-ranked middleweight after dismantling Derek Brunson at UFC 285 “I fought Derek Brunson, and it was a tough fight. It was a great camp, felt amazing, but that first round was so intense,” Du Plessis said. “I got home… and I just became number five in the world, the first South African ever to even get close to a ranking. I get home, I get in the car. So happy to see my parents, they are so happy to see me, and they go, ‘Geez! So you still want to be a world champion?’, and I said yes, ‘Yeah, my whole life is dedicated to this.’ And they said ‘Not if you fight like that! That was terrible!’”

“I couldn’t even fathom what was happening right now. I said, ‘Excuse me, I was ranked number 10, I just become number 5 in the world’. They’re like, ‘No, that’s amazing. Like is number 5 what you want to achieve, because like that, you’re not achieving number 1. Like number 5 will be the highest achievement you’ll get.”, ‘Stillknocks’ added. If that isn’t the definition of tough love, we don’t know what is! While his parents didn’t deny that Du Plessis is a hard worker, they recognized that he needed to change something in his style to win.

Credit to Dricus Du Plessis, though. He revealed that while he was quite angry with his parents at the time, that tough conversation made him reflect and make the necessary changes to take his game to the next level. What followed was three spectacular wins against the division’s killers; Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland and then Israel Adesanya. And how did fans react to this revelation? Well, they had a field day, as they do picking on his ‘awkward yet effective’ style.

Fans give their two cents on Dricus Du Plessis’ parents criticizing him

While Du Plessis seemed visibly shaken at recalling that conversation with his parents, fans were pretty stoked at his parent’s response. One user broke down a very blunt version of what his parents must have so eloquently put forth, “Even his parents are gaslighters, ‘we’re not saying u suck, we just said it was bad'” Another fan decided to correct the previous netizen and said, “You do not get the message his parents wanted to pass to him. Simply means they told him to step it up a notch if you wanna get the belt.”

One follower agreed to his parent’s advice and wrote, “They weren’t wrong. That DDP who fought Brunson gets smoked by Strickland.” After Du Plessis took the advice from his parents, he made several changes to his fighting style and training regimen. What happened as a result? He yanked a massive upset over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. A netizen pointed this out and wrote, “And then he beat Whittaker, then became champ and submitted Izzy, that’s what happened when you got real people with you, especially a parent who wants the best for their kid.”

Not only did he take the advice of ‘changing’ from his parents but went above and beyond to ensure his dominance. DDP underwent surgery for a deviated septum after his fight against Brunson. This helped him improve his cardio inside the cage. Another follower praised his parents and said, “Damn that’s real, man, and that helped Dricus level up. Like that? Just a convo in the car, a few honest words can be enough.”

One follower invoked Joe Rogan’s infamous wake-up call to Brendan Schaub, writing, “I think you’d be surprised” – Dricus to his parents,” while another chimed in with a positive message, “Damn. They kept it real well look at him now. Gotta respect it.” Overall, fans seemed to agree with the tough love meted out by DDP’s parents. Will that spirit live on at UFC 312? We’ll just have to wait and find out.