Dricus Du Plessis thinks all of Conor McGregor’s haters are just jealous.
Even though he hasn’t competed inside the Octagon in more than three years, McGregor is still arguably the biggest name in all of combat sports. He’s also one of the richest with a net worth reportedly tipping the scales at $180 million.
Unfortunately, the once beloved Irish megastar has seen a lot of fight fans turn their back on him for one reason or another, whether it be his non-stop trash-talking of fighters who actually compete or a plethora of legal issues like the one that found him liable for sexual assault.
But according to reigning UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis, much of the vitriol being aimed at the former two-division titleholder these days is nothing more than pure envy.
“Division champion and in an absolute clinical display against Eddie Alvarez,” Du Plessis said during an appearance on Straight Talk with Mark Bouris. “People forget about that immediately now because it’s been a while. The man’s sitting on his yacht, jeez. You know, it’s kind of easy to sit here and judge, but I think everybody’s kind of jealous of that. And yeah, I mean, the man’s done some wild stuff, but that’s a completely different story.
“As for Conor McGregor the athlete, you have to give that man all the respect and thank our fathers for what happened to this sport because of him. I mean, Conor McGregor, there’s a lot of controversy around the man, 100%. But I did an interview a couple of months ago where I said, whether you hate him or love him, you’ve got to respect what the man has done and achieved in this sport.
“People look at Conor McGregor now and say, ‘Oh, he’s done.’ Well, if he is done, good on him. You know, good on him. Because I’ve been a fan of his for a very long time.”
Dricus Du Plessis headlines UFC’s return to Australia
Dricus Du Plessis returns to the Octagon on Saturday, February 8 for his second middleweight title defense at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia. After securing a big win over Israel Adesanya in August, ‘DDP’ will look to once again fend off the man he took the title from, Sean Strickland.
Stillknocks’ will also put his ‘O’ on the line as he rides into The Land Down Under with a perfect 8-0 record under the UFC banner, including wins over Robert Whittaker, Adesanya, and Strickland in his last three outings.