UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis shared a pretty intense winning mindset when he steps into the cage.
The champ defended his title against Israel Adesanya in 2024 and is set to defend his title yet again on Saturday against Sean Strickland. His opponent recently came out to negotiate with DDP to keep the fight clean and on their feet without grappling, but DDP is intent on giving the fans what they want, be it on the feet or on the ground. Strickland responded with zero fear, saying he will deliver a brutal performance, but it seems du Plessis has a more menacing mentality when he steps into that cage on Saturday.
“When I go in there, if the ref doesn’t stop it, I’m not stopping,” du Plessis told Mark Bouris. “I can be sitting on you for 10 minutes bashing your face and if the ref doesn’t say stop, I’m not stopping.
“That is the question that me, as a modern-day gladiator has to ask myself: Am I still willing to die? Absolutely. That’s easy. It is, are you willing to kill a man in front of his family? Yes, I am, and that’s why I’m the world champion, because I say yes to that question every single time.
“But that’s Dricus ‘Stillknocks’ du Plessis, that’s not Dricus the guy that you see right here.”
The two fighters had their first bout at UFC 297, where Plessis defeated Strickland and captured the title. The South African has successfully defended his title against Israel Adesanya and is now set to show his mettle against his former rival. Plessis is willing to give it his all in the cage but is quite skeptical if his opponent will do the same.
“That was exactly what we did the last time,” du Plessis said. “He said, ‘To death, let’s go, ‘let’s fight to death,’ and the man threw a jab and a teep for five rounds. And this is a stat, you can check it, for 23 minutes I went forward, he went forward for two minutes.
“That is a very clear indication of who is there to fight, and who is there to defend. He’s not banging, and listen, a very effective style. That’s his style, but let’s not go and act as if Sean Strickland’s fights are entertaining. The man has eight split decisions — six victories, and two losses against me and Cannonier. That is not somebody who is looking for an exciting fight.”
Despite his bone-chilling persona in the cage, Plessis says he is a totally different person outside the cage.
