Dricus du Plessis

About

Dricus du Plessis (born 14 January 1994), also known by his initials DDP, is a South African professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. He is the first South African to win a UFC championship. As of 19 August 2025, he is #2 in the Meta UFC middleweight rankings. Outside of the UFC, du Plessis is also the former Welterweight and Middleweight Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) Champion, and the former Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) Welterweight Champion.

Du Plessis is an Afrikaner, and was born in Welkom, South Africa. Du Plessis began training in judo at the age of five, followed by wrestling at twelve, then kickboxing at fourteen. In 2012, at 17 years old, du Plessis became South Africa’s first ever medalist at the WAKO World Championships by winning gold in K-1 style kickboxing, but decided to transition to mixed martial arts after realising there was not as much money in kickboxing. Along with martial arts, du Plessis also played rugby throughout his schooling years, and has since been a vocal supporter of the Springboks, South Africa…