Dricus Du Plessis

Overview

Nine straight UFC wins, and the man who ended the run took a decision, not a finish. Dricus Du Plessis is a middleweight out of Welkom, South Africa, fights out of CIT MMA, and holds a 10-1 UFC record (24-3-0 across all promotions). Six of those ten wins came against opponents our model rates as elite. He has won once since the loss, and he carries a one-fight win streak into his next fight.

The short version: he gets his finishes in the middle of fights and takes the best opponents the distance.

UFC Career

Du Plessis debuted on October 9, 2020, and finished Markus Perez by KO/TKO at 3:22 of the first round. It remains his only first-round finish. Trevin Giles followed in July 2021, stopped in the second, and then Brad Tavares went the full three rounds in July 2022 for the first of his four UFC decision wins.

Then the finishes came back. Darren Till was submitted at 2:43 of round three at UFC 282. Derek Brunson went down by KO/TKO at 4:59 of round two at UFC 285, one second from the bell. That is the first win on his list over an elite opponent, and the second came four months later: Robert Whittaker, stopped in round two at UFC 290.

The next three fights were all against elite opponents. At UFC 297 he headlined against Sean Strickland in a five-round main event and won a split decision. Seven months later he submitted Israel Adesanya in round four of a five-round fight, at 3:38. The Strickland rematch at UFC 312 went the full five rounds, and Du Plessis won a unanimous decision.

At UFC 319 he met Khamzat Chimaev in a title fight and lost a unanimous decision after five rounds. It is the only loss on his UFC ledger, and it was not a finish. He came back in July 2026 to headline against Kamaru Usman, another elite opponent, in a five-round main event, and won a unanimous decision.

Ten wins, one loss, and the loss went the distance.

Fighting Style

Du Plessis is a busy striker who throws and lands at a high clip, and he mixes in takedowns more than most. His accuracy, the damage he absorbs and his striking defense all sit around the UFC average, so the volume doesn't come with an unusual defensive cost, but it doesn't come with a defensive edge either.

He shouldn't be filed as a pure striker. He shoots for takedowns more often than most fighters, though his takedown defense and submission attempts are about average. Two of his ten UFC wins came by submission, Till in round three and Adesanya in round four.

The finishing pattern is clear. He has four wins by KO/TKO, two by submission and four by decision. Of the six finishes, only one came in round one, three came in round two, and the two submissions landed in rounds three and four. He tends to finish in the middle of a fight, not at the start.

Notable Wins

• Israel Adesanya — submission, round 4, UFC 305 (2024)
• Robert Whittaker — KO/TKO, round 2, UFC 290 (2023)
• Sean Strickland — split decision, round 5, UFC 297 (2024)
• Kamaru Usman — unanimous decision, round 5, UFC Fight Night: Du Plessis vs. Usman (2026)

Quick Facts

• Division: Middleweight
• UFC record: 10-1
• Professional record (all promotions): 24-3-0
• UFC debut: 2020
• Stance: Switch
• Height / reach: 6'1" / 76"
• Team: CIT MMA
• Born: Welkom, South Africa

One correction on my own output: the Chimaev link above should read exactly as the LINKS path, `/fighters/khamzat-chimaev`. Here is that line as it should appear:

At UFC 319 he met Khamzat Chimaev in a title fight and lost a unanimous decision after five rounds.