Las Vegas, NV — South African middleweight Dricus Du Plessis plans to some day bring a UFC championship to his home continent.
Africa at one point had three champions in the UFC, at least in terms of heritage. Now they have none, with Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman losing their titles, and Francis Ngannou choosing to leave the promotion to explore free agency.
Du Plessis (18-2) doesn’t seem to feel any of those fighters were truly African champions, however. “Did those belts ever go to Africa? As far as I know, they came to America and New Zealand. I’m going to take a belt to Africa,” he told Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“I’m the African fighter in the UFC. Myself and Cameron [Saaiman, Du Plessis’ teammate], we breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa, we’re African born, we’re African raised. We still reside in Africa, we train out of Africa. That’s an African champion, and that’s who I’ll be.”
Before any talk of gold, there’s Derek Brunson to contend with. Du Plessis is set to face the American at UFC 285, coming into the fight with a full head of steam. That’s in stark contrast to how his run with the company started — although he’s done nothing but win, Du Plessis had to deal with fights falling through and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic as he started his UFC career.
Luckily, things have gone more smoothly of late.
After that rocky start, “it seems like that bumpy road is out of the way,” Du Plessis told media outlets including Cageside Press at this week’s UFC 285 media day. Three fights in the last seven or eight months, added Du Plessis, “that’s beautiful, and that gets me to fighting the top five. After this fight, there’s nothing else other than fighting for the number one contender’s spot.”
Having gone 4-0 to start his UFC run despite some of those early obstacles, Du Plessis sees no issue with his rush to the top.
“I always say, especially when you’re a bit further back in the rankings, you need to work to get to where you want to be. I’m not a guy that came into the UFC as a youngster. I’m not an older guy, but I didn’t come into the UFC thinking I needed to build myself up,” Du Plessis explained. “I needed to find my feet in the octagon for sure, but I have three world titles outside of the UFC. I was a K-1 amateur world champion before turning pro in MMA. I’m used to the competition.”
In addition to that K-1 title, Du Plessis also held gold in KSW and EFC. “So once I got my shot, I knew I wanted to go this fast. I wanted to climb the ladder as fast as possible, fighting the best possible guys, and not refusing any fights.”
With that in mind, every time the UFC has called, Dricus Du Plessis has answered, and said yes. “I’ve only fought guys ranked above me, I’ve said yes, and just climbed the ranks. I’m coming for the top five, and I’m absolutely ecstatic about that.”
Hailing from South Africa, Du Plessis gets plenty of questions about former UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, born in another African nation, Nigeria. For one, he believes “The Last Stylebender” will come out on top when he goes up against Alex Pereira for the fourth time (second in MMA) later this year.
“I honestly think Izzy is taking the rematch. It’s almost like, ‘if this is the last thing I do, I’m gonna win [against] Alex Pereira.’ I think Alex Periera has achieved in his mind — this is all just speculation — ‘I’ve come to another sport and beat Izzy for a third time.’ He’s proven what he’s needed to prove, and I don’t know if he still has that hunger,” said Du Plessis. “I’m not saying he doesn’t, I’m just saying I don’t know. I think for Izzy, this means more to him than ever being UFC champion.”
Watch the full UFC 285 media day appearance by Dricus Du Plessis above.
