Dricus du Plessis will hope his fight at UFC 319 will end much less frantically than his first bout after kicking off his MMA career.
Twelve years after his shocking debut in MMA, Dricus du Plessis is taking on the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of UFC 319.
His UFC Middleweight title will be on the line, and the enormity of the clash is a stark contrast to the beginning of the South African’s career.
“Stillknocks” made his debut as a fresh-faced 20-year-old who won the fight, but not in the way he would have wanted.
Photo by Paul Kane/Getty ImagesThe referee desperately yelled at Dricus du Plessis to stop after his opponent suffered a knee injury
Growing up in South Africa, du Plessis trained in judo, kickboxing, and wrestling as he embarked on a journey to make a living fighting in MMA.
After winning his three amateur fights, he turned professional in 2013 for a fight against Tshikangu Makuebo in the South African promotion, Extreme Fighting Championship.
Makuebo was 2-1 in his professional career at that point, but his bout with du Plessis would be his final outing in the octagon.
That is because after just over a minute into the bout, Makuebo caught a kick from du Plessis and tried to take him down. The UFC Middleweight champion decided to go into a full guard, which brought them both down and trapped Makuebo’s leg underneath du Plessis’ body.
The referee immediately stepped into action. He immediately yelled “Stop! Stop! Stop!” and pulled the pair apart, asking Makuebo, “Is your leg fine?”.
The pain on his face made it apparent that his knee was indeed not fine, and it had been blown out during du Plessis’ takedown on his fellow African.
The fight was stopped just a minute into the first round, with the future UFC star handed a win on his debut. Sadly, it was not the win he wanted, and Makuebo would never fight again professionally.
Dricus du Plessis had to deny injury rumors before his fight with Khamzat Chimaev
As the UFC was trying to book the eventual UFC 319 main event between du Plessis and Chimaev, rumors swirled about a potential injury to the South African fighter.
There were claims that DDP had broken his shin and would be out for six months, putting the fight and his UFC Middleweight title reign in jeopardy.
However, du Plessis shut down any injury rumors with an Instagram post, denying he was suffering from any ailments as he plugged the upcoming announcement for the UFC 319 main event.
Du Plessis wrote: “Okey so everyone had their opinions and rumours and stories about a shin break and injuries etc,” he wrote on Instagram.
“I found it all very entertaining, unfortunately none of it is true myself and @ufc already discussed a fight date and opponent, the June fight was never signed I did not pull out of any fight.
“I am the champion I know when I fight you as a contender just show up when we tell you to.
“Fight announcement coming soon stay tuned.”
The pair will finally face off in the UFC 319 main event, with both men fully fit to compete for the UFC Middleweight title.