Dricus du Plessis (born 14 January 1994) is a South African professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the first South African to win a UFC championship.
Background
Du Plessis is an Afrikaner. He 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 medalist at the WAKO World Championships by winning gold in K-1 style kickboxing, but migrated to mixed martial arts after realizing 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's national rugby team. He attended the University of Pretoria, where he studied agricultural economics but dropped out during the final year to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.