BLOODY VICTORY
Dricus du Plessis makes history as South Africa’s first UFC middleweight champion
South Africa has their first UFC champion after a bruising performance by Dricus du Plessis over Sean Strickland on Sunday.
Dricus “Stillknocks” du Plessis became the first South African Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) belt holder after beating Sean Strickland by split decision on Sunday morning to take the middleweight belt from the champion.
It was a five-round bloodbath between the two big strikers but ultimately it was the burly South African who came away with the win at UFC 297’s main event in Toronto, Canada.
Du Plessis is now seven wins from seven fights in the UFC, having climbed up the rankings rapidly within four years. He called out former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya after the brawl as a possible first opponent to defend his belt. DM
Dricus du Plessis won a split-points decision against Sean Strickland to win the middleweight championship at UFC 297 event at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, on 20 January 2024. (Photo: Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Dricus du Plessis lands a left on Sean Strickland during their UFC middleweight championship bout. (Photo: Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Dricus du Plessis punches Sean Strickland in the UFC middleweight championship bout in Toronto, Ontario, on 20 January 2024. (Photo: Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Dricus du Plessis prepares to face Sean Strickland in a UFC middleweight championship bout at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, on 20 January 2024. (Photo: Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
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Gosh, I am so happy! World Champ in the most difficult weight category, in possibly the toughest sport on this planet!
Yster Dricus.
Hulle het nie geweet wat ons weet nie! Congrats to a deserved winner who showed massive respect to Strickland in the immediate post-fight interview. Doing Mzansi proud! 🏆
WTG ‘Stillknocks’
I cannot wait to see your first title defense of your UFC Middleweight Title
There’s a time gap, of course, but shouldn’t the article choose (and state) whether it’s Canadian or S.A. time? The photo caption states ’20th’ (Canadian fight date) and the first paragraph ‘Sunday’ (S.A. fight day), both without qualification and therefore in apparent contradiction.
Nitpicker.
So what, he won fair and square despite you “nitpicking”. As a Nation, we should be proud of his achievement regardless of the time zone. We don’t have much to cheer these days.
Hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie !!
Awesome win Dricus
Great achievement.
Congrats Dricus on a huge win secured by your passionate passionate heart. We are proud of you.
It wasn’t a bloodbath! Only Strickland was bleeding. We are the onety one-ers!!!
Brutal game but great for SA!
Another SA 1-point victory! Sjoe, my nerves… Dricus is a wonderful ambassador for the country, and a great role model. Vat vyf!
We are immensely proud of the man. Black and white all celebrated as one just the same as when we won the world rugby Cup.
What a champ! Thanks for all the hard work and for flying the SA flag so proudly.
I thought Strickland was going to be hard to beat. He was. Tough tough fight. Congratulations to our boy from Pretoria.
Hello South Africa
Pretoria rules the waves.
Barbaric, just shove them in the Gladiator’s ring and let Caesar decide
He may be the champ but he is only fifth on the Boksburg pub circuit.
Good man! Great victory!
🇿🇦💪
Another great Rainbow Nation moment!! Well done to Dricus DuPlessis!! He has made us very proud!!!
Paul Zille, “Hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie”, says it all.
We have four great fights lined up for The Boksburg Town Hall. Dricus has to beat them all before he can truly say he is the world champion. I think he will take them all in one night. The other guys are just posers not real fighters. Hierdie Soutie se Sterkte Dricus!
Well done Dricus. Just a question to Daily Maverick, can you hold a poll with some questions to find out how many people actually knows anything about MMA? Seems the whole of SA is now MMA fundi’s. This does not take away my admiration for Dricus by winning the belt in a very demanding sport.
Dricus, Congrats. You were phenomenal. And you did it from South Africa. We need more like you!
Great achievement!
Interesting that the springboks and him have been supporting each other for a while, think he carried the flag when boks walked on for one of the RWC games.
Well done Dricus. Not one of the sports I really follow, I prefer boxing, rugby, athletics and swimming, but, hell, its nice to have another world champion.
A friend sent me a clip, which I thought was quite amusing, confirming how tough our boys are in the South.
“Dricus’s no 1 ranking in the world, gives a him a no 7 ranking in Boksburg” 😉