DRICUS DU PLESSIS

Dricus du Plessis represents South Africa as a professional athlete within the middleweight class. Based out of Team CIT MMA, he utilizes an orthodox stance and a high-pressure approach to combat. His path to the promotion featured multiple championships earned across the EFC and KSW organizations. Upon reaching the global stage, he made history by becoming the inaugural South African titleholder in the UFC. His resume leading into this competition includes significant victories over notable names such as Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker, and Sean Strickland.

The middleweight enters this matchup holding a professional mark of 24-3-0. His recent activity shows a unanimous decision triumph against Kamaru Usman this past July. Prior to that, he experienced a unanimous decision setback versus Khamzat Chimaev. Before his loss, he secured a unanimous decision victory over Sean Strickland in February 2025. That win followed a successful face crank submission against Adesanya and a split decision win over Strickland in early 2024.