The last time we saw Dricus Du Plessis in action, the No. 2-ranked middleweight contender was celebrating his technical knockout victory over ex-division champion Robert Whittaker. Part of that celebration was a “too cool” moment with former U.S. President Donald Trump, who was sitting cageside at UFC 290 last July in Las Vegas.
Unfortunately for “Stillknocks,” Trump was ruled off limits for UFC fighters.
“They said — they told us beforehand — if you jump over (the fence), you’re getting a $10,000 fine,” Du Plessis told Fight in Sight (transcribed by MMA News). “And I said, ‘Okay, I won’t jump over the fence, I never jump over the fence, why would I jump over the fence? I’ve never done that before.’ And it was just like, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ They said it to me like four times before walking out. I’m assuming it was because Trump was sitting cageside in terms of safety.”
The U.S. Secret Service has a tendency to frown on that sort of “mayhem.”
“I was like, ‘I don’t know why you guys keep on hammering about me jumping over the fence, I’ve never done it before,’” Du Plessis continued. “It was literally the last instruction I got just before walking into the cage. After the fight, I looked to the side and Trump stood up and gave me an ovation. I was like, ‘This is too cool of a moment for me to let by,’ and well, I jumped over the fence, greeted Trump. This was the President of the United States, I wasn’t not gonna greet him, this is amazing.”
It was a nice moment between two “elite” athletes.
The 29 year-old Du Plessis (20-2) will have an opportunity to recoup some of his losses when he goes to war with newly-crowned middleweight champion Sean Strickland in the upcoming UFC 297 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, locked and loaded for Sat., Jan. 20, 2024 inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
To see who else is fighting at UFC 297 click here.