Dricus du Plessis is a fighter under contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He competes in the middleweight division and has wins over big-name fighters such as Darren Till and Derek Brunson. He is one of the brightest prospects and seems to be destined to find himself in the mix of elite middleweight fighters for a long time to come.
Born on January 14, 1994, Dricus hails from the Hatfield region of Pretoria, South Africa. He fights out of Team CIT MMA, which is also located in South Africa. There has been a lot of controversy regarding his nationality. However, by birth, Dricus du Plessis is South African. According to his UFC profile, du Plessis currently resides in Welkom, South Africa. While not a lot is known about his parents, du Plessis did take to Instagram to wish his mother on Mother’s Day in 2022.
There is a lot of debate due to his nationality. In the UFC 285 post-fight press conference, Dricus revealed that he was a real African fighter as he still resided in the country and made his name in the continent itself. The statement offended Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman, both of whom were born in Nigeria but later migrated to New Zealand and the USA respectively.
While Adesanya had an extremely angry reaction, Usman walked a different path and suggested that du Plessis was not a real African as his parents moved to the continent after he was born. But, as mentioned previously, that was definitely not the case.
Which religion does Dricus du Plessis believe in?
Dricus du Plessis has battled a lot of adversities on his way to the top. Before turning his attention toward fighting, du Plessis was an agricultural economics student at the University of Pretoria. However, du Plessis dropped out of college to pursue his passion. He is a 2nd-degree black belt in kickboxing and eventually transitioned into MMA in 2013 and made his UFC debut in October 2020.
Despite his success inside the Octagon, there were question marks about his cardio. However, it was later discovered that a brutal nose injury left him unable to take in more than 8% of oxygen.
Even through thick and thin, he maintained his belief in Christianity. du Plessis is a devout Christian and a family man. In a 2013 post on his Facebook, Dricus made it clear which religion he followed and the South African fighter has maintained his faith all throughout his life.