Eleven years ago, a young man started his journey into the combat sports world. It was a hard and rebellious journey, and it started in South Africa. This fighter’s journey from Extreme Fighting Championship to becoming a title holder at UFC is a narrative of tenacity, ambition, and grit! The South African native’s rise is not just his own, but also a monumental emblem for his coaches and team members. Today the man known as Dricus Du Plessis aka ‘Stillknocks’ is going strong and is all set to be a part of another historical moment as he will be fighting Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.

So let’s dive into the story of how he started in the UFC. What his journey was like with a lot of success and a little controversy?

Controversial Dricus Du Plessis vs Yannick Bahati fight, MMA record before UFC

Dricus Du Plessis, beginning with the EFC, had led to the concrete foundation that had catapulted him into UFC. The 21-2-0 record Middleweight champ started at UFC in UFC Fight Night in 2020 at the age of 26 and has not looked back ever since. He defeated Markus Perez at UFC Fight Night and followed it up with victories against Trevin Giles, Brad Tavares, Darren Till, Derek Brunson, Robert Whittaker, and finally Sean Strickland.

However, his fight with Yannik Bahati at the EFC is one of the iconic ones because of the controversy. Previously, a video of the fighter had resurfaced where he was choking Bahati after derogatory comments about his girlfriend had surfaced on social media. The South African native and Bahati had fought against each other for the EFC middleweight championship in August 2017.

The fire increased between the duo when ‘Stillknocks’ confidently said that he would defeat his opponent during EFC 62. Bahati was not silent and dragged his opponent’s girlfriend into the mix to insult the fighter. Bahati even slapped Du Plessis during the face-off, but got the payback during the fight.

During the fight, Du Plessis seized the opportunity with his grappling prowess and gave a guillotine choke to his opponent. Du Plessis achieved the UFC middleweight championship in 2024 after defeating Sean Strickland, and now he is defending his title at UFC 305. He started his professional career 11 years ago at CIT. The fighter has always trained rigorously and even now for the latest fight; he went through the dangerous South African way of training himself.

The 30-year-old told media scrum ahead of UFC 305, “Coach will tell you ‘your hand isn’t high enough‘, or ‘your chin is in the air’. And he’ll warn you. Then he’ll warn you again. Then he’ll say ‘I’ve warned you twice about this, get on your stomach’. And you lie down and get tased on the foot. It’s a great reminder.”

He had always done this kind of training even before he joined the UFC. Du Plessis had three amateur bouts before he made his professional debut in 2013 with a 4-0 record. He then faced EFC middleweight champ Garreth McLellan at EFC Africa 33, losing via guillotine choke submission in the third round. In 2014, he redeemed himself by winning against Darren Daniel and Dino Bagattin.

‘Stillknocks’ even dethroned Roberto Soldić at KSW Welterweight Championship, so he has an impressive record even before UFC. Now that he is into UFC and making history, let’s see his journey at UFC.

Dricus Du Plessis’ journey in the UFC

Du Plessis made his debut in 2020 against Marcus Perez at UFC Fight Night and he won via knockout in round one. Unfortunately for his second match with Travin Giles, he had to withdraw because of visa issues, but when the fight was rescheduled for 2021 July, he won via knockout again in the second round. He even faced Robert Whittaker in 2023 at UFC 290 and earned himself a number one contender spot in the middleweight division by winning through knockout in the second round.

‘Stillknocks’ then defeated Sean Strickland at UFC 297 to become the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the first South African to win a UFC championship. All of these sounds very impressive, but the training and practice that goes behind it is the more commendable. 

The 30-year-old has been tased during his training so that he could make himself stronger. He recently revealed, “It’s been a part of the team for over two years. We’ve upgraded the taser because we got used to the old one. It didn’t have the same effect. So that’s why we have the big one now, it’s a proper one.” 

What do you think about his journey so far? Tell us in the comments below.