The champ is here!
Newly-crowned UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis returned to South Africa on Thursday morning and received a hero’s welcome at OR Tambo International Airport. “Stillknocks” is just a few days removed from his split decision victory over Sean Strickland in the UFC 297 headliner, which took place last weekend at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
“A lot of people misunderstand this sport as a lonely sport [as] it is only me when I step in there to fight, but behind the scenes I have a team, just like everybody else,” Du Plessis said after arriving home (via Times Live). “My coach Morne Visser has been my coach for 11 years. He is the only coach I’ve had in this sport. And my teammates, I have a teammate who is going to the UFC soon.”
“Especially now we have somebody who has proven to the world that, here is South Africa, we have the ability, we have the coaches and we have the team and the fight to compete with the best in the world,” Du Plessis continued. “And not only compete, but win. This opens the door for many young fighters to go to the UFC. To get signed to the UFC, because it’s hard to get inside the UFC, especially if you are a country that’s not really recognised as a big fight country.”
Here’s different angles of his return home:
No word yet on when Du Plessis will make his first middleweight title defense. There has been talk of pairing “Stillknocks” against former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 300 in April; however, the more likely scenario is the promotion will wait for both fighters to get healthy and book them for a card further down the road like International Fight Week in July.
For more on Du Plessis’ win at UFC 297 click here.