The family of Dricus du Plessis is a large part of his rapid climb of the pound-for-pound rankings of the UFC.
UFC Middleweight Champion Dric Du Plessis's success in the Octagon was not expected by many fans and experts after his earlier versions in the promotion. This includes his parents, who motivated him to make significant changes, despite a victory over one of the pillars of the division.
Du Plessis will be confronted this weekend with Sean Strickland in a long -awaited middleweight title brake match on UFC 312. It is the second title defense of the middleweight champion after completing Israel Adesanya on UFC 305 last August.
Earlier in his UFC career, many criticized and spotted many du Plessis for his unorthodox style and tendencies to quickly look tired in fighting. This previously placed him in his career in Wilde Slugfests against some of the best contenders in the middleweight division.
Faced with old competition Derek Brunson at UFC 285, Du Plessis was out to make a statement and secure a no. 1 candidate fight. It was a wild war from start to finish when Du Plessis finally finished Brunson, but the path to win the victory was rocky and challenging.
After a tough night in the cage at UFC 285, Du Plessis's parents wondered if he was serious or not about the pursuit of greatness.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
The parents of Dricus du Plessis were painfully critical after Derek Brunson fights UFC 285
In a recent interview with Mark Bouris, Du Plessis shared how a conversation after the fight with his parents led him to change his path to become a UFC world champion.
“I fought Derek Brunson and it was a tough fight. Great camp, felt great, but that first round was so intense, “said Du Plessis. “I got home … and I just became number five in the world, the first South African ever who even comes close to a ranking … My parents are so happy to see me, and they are geez! So you still want to become a world champion?
“I couldn't even understand what happened. Pardon? I just became number five in the world. They said, “That's great, but is that all you want to achieve?” Du Plessis continued. “That is the highest performance you get if you want to do that”. I stuttered, I couldn't believe it. They didn't say I didn't work hard or did enough, but a change was needed, and I had to find it. Something for the next because [with that performance]You won't make it. I'm sorry.”
In his next fight, and after several changes to his camp and lifestyle, Du Plessis drew a huge upset about Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. The victory ensured a title shot against Strickland and he continued to defeat Strickland by split decision .
Dricus Du Plessis underwent career-changing operation after beating Derek Brunson
After beating Brunson, Du Plessis underwent surgery to repair its different septum, which influenced his ability to breathe well and have a better cardiovascular current in the cage.
A victory on Strickland would probably set up Du Plessis this weekend for a title fight with the unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev. He recently admitted that he 'hoped and prayed' for the UFC to book him against Chimaev instead of Strickland for the UFC 312 Main Event.
The path from Du Plessis to the middleweight throne was dominant in terms of victories and losses, but had a number of difficult challenges he had to overcome in and out of the Octagon.
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