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Why world champion Dricus du Plessis gave up on Springboks dream to chase UFC gold
Stephen Foote • February 6th, 2025 12:00 pm
On Sunday, Dricus du Plessis will return to the Octagon in Sydney to defend his middleweight world title in a highly anticipated rematch with Sean Strickland at UFC 312.
The South African will don the golden gloves befitting a UFC champion in front of a packed house at Qudos Bank Arena - but there's an alternate reality where he may instead have been strapping up his boots, taping up his ears, and running out to the turf at nearby Accor Stadium.
As is the case with many young South Africans, du Plessis grew up with a dream of wearing Springboks green and was well on track to achieving that goal, before he fell in love with the complex world of mixed martial arts.
He played age-group representative rugby at Currie Cup level alongside a slew of stars who have since gone on to represent South Africa, among them the likes of two-time World Cup winners Siya Kolisi, Handre Pollard, and Jesse Kriel.
Ultimately, The lure of the cage was too much to resist for Du Plessis, who decided to forgo an all-inclusive scholarship to study and play rugby to pursue his newfound passion.
"I was well on my way to play professional rugby. That was the plan," du Plessis told Sport Nation's Fight Club Podcast.
"I went to go study and play professional rugby, and just before I had to start my season, I made the decision that I wanted to fight.
"I made the decision that I wanted to become a professional fighter and not play rugby.
"It was a massive decision."
Veering down that fork in the road has clearly paid off. The hugely ambitious Du Plessis had grand designs on life and what kind of impact he wanted to make on the world.
He recognised his limitations on the rugby field, and - confident he'd have a better chance to be a flagbearer for his nation in MMA - set about blazing a trail as South Africa's first UFC world champion, now riding a nine-fight undefeated streak into this weekend's second title defence.
"I'm glad I made that decision. I'm not even saying I would have been a Springbok. I would have been a good rugby player. But I would have never been great.
"If you look at the Boks today, they are special.
"I love what I do. I'm good friends with a lot of the Springbok players and I take a lot of inspiration from them."
Back in August, the world champion Springboks had a considerable presence in the week leading up to du Plessis' title defence against Israel Adesanya in Perth, where the team were coincidentally in town for a Rugby Championship clash with the Wallabies at Optus Stadium.
Kolisis, Eben Etzebeth, Jesse Kriel, and RG Snyman were on hand to support their countrymen at the traditional open workout sessions leading into the contest, while Kolisi and Etzebeth made the Octagon entrance with their countryman prior to his fourth-round submission of 'The Last Stylebender'.
Is it time for Israel Adesanya to retire? | Fight Club Podcast
It was a flipping of the scripts of sorts, with du Plessis among the ecstatic contingent at the Stade de France in 2023 to witness his mates secure a second-consecutive William Webb Ellis trophy in a razor-close final against the All Blacks - an experience he says was on par with his world title triumph.
"I was in tears," he recalled with a smile.
"It was one of the greatest moments of my whole life, up there with becoming a world champion myself, witnessing the mighty Springboks do that. That was one of the best rugby games that I've ever seen in my life."
Almost as competitive as that final in France was his first meeting with impending challenger Strickland in Toronto almost exactly a year ago, when 'Still Knocks' ground out a split-decision victory to wrestle the belt away from the American.
With the roles now reversed, a busy year of fight camps and a maiden title defence banked, expects a much more comprehensive performance in their sophomore encounter.
"I'm coming in exactly the same, I just know it will be more polished.
"Prepping for Strickland, then prepping for Adesanya and prepping for him now again, that's a lot of training and a lot of camps within the year. That's three title fights in a year.
"That's going to pay some interest, training for fights like that back to back because one camp just builds on the other. When it comes to conditioning, this will be the best Dricus the world has ever seen, by far. I know that for a fact.
"When it comes to being more polished and the skill, I know it's going to be the best for me because it's been a year of work, constant work and growing and getting better."
Catch UFC 312: Du Plessis vs Strickland live on UFC Fight Pass from 4pm (NZ time).
