Earlier than turning into a UFC champion, Dricus Du Plessis taught himself combined martial arts by means of outdated problems with Fighters Solely journal.
On Saturday, February 8, ‘Stillknocks’ will return to the Octagon set to defend his middleweight title for the second time when he meets the person he took the gold from a bit of greater than a 12 months in the past, Sean Strickland. The 2 will headline UFC 312 when the promotion heads again to Sydney, Australia for its second pay-per-view occasion of 2025.
Du Plessis goes into his first battle of the 12 months boasting an ideal 8-0 file below the UFC banner, together with wins over Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya, and naturally, Sean Strickland. The primary time round, ‘DDP’ defeated Strickland through a considerably controversial break up resolution to say his first UFC title. This time, he’ll need to fend off ‘Tarzan’ who heads to The Land Down Below hellbent on reclaiming the crown he misplaced at UFC 297.
Du Plessis used his brothers to coach MMA strikes he present in magazines
However lengthy earlier than he’d made a reputation for himself on MMA’s largest stage, Du Plessis was only a younger aspiring fighter utilizing his brothers to coach strikes he’d seen in magazines.
“I was from a small town. Nobody knew MMA, right? I went in, and the fight started,” Du Plessis informed talkSPORT. “Obviously, being a kickboxer, the first thing I did—I had seen these techniques in Fighters Only magazine, they always had these things—so I would train them with my brother.“I would ask him to help me. He was older, and both of them were Judo champions, so they understood what was going on. You know, the internet and YouTube weren’t like they are now. Social media wasn’t a thing, so that wasn’t a possibility.”
With a 22-2 general file and a 91% end fee, clearly learning these magazines paid off.
Will ‘Stillknocks’ maintain the prepare working and go two-up on Sean Strickland contained in the Qudos Financial institution Area this weekend, or will ‘Tarzan’ even the collection and hand ‘DDP’ the primary lack of his UFC run?
