Dricus du Plessis tapped out one of Khamzat Chimaev’s closest friends in the lead-up to their rumored title fight.
A little more than a year before he became UFC Champion, South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis was a middleweight contender on the rise.
Du Plessis started his run in the Octagon at a perfect 3-0, earning a spot in the top-15 rankings where he’d face the best fighters in the world.
Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya, and Sean Strickland (twice) are just some of the names on the South African’s resume, with du Plessis nearly losing on his road to gold against Derek Brunson in what was his final fight with a breathing impairment.
Du Plessis had a deviated septum that limited his oxygen intake to 8% through his nostrils, a handicap which almost cost him the fight prior with Darren Till at UFC 282 in Dec. 2022.
Till, a former UFC title challenger and famed training partner of middleweight bogeyman Khamzat Chimaev, posed a real threat to du Plessis in the striking department. On the ground, however, there was not the same threat.
Dricus du Plessis came close to stopping Darren Till in first minute
In the opening round of their fight, du Plessis controlled Till up against the cage, throwing punches in bunches as the referee cautiously watched. Till maintained he was OK as he was eating punches from this position.
Du Plessis expended a lot of energy trying to finish Till, mauling him on the ground after a scoring a takedown.
Du Plessis took ahold of Till’s back, with the strike differential showing 60 strikes for the South African and 0 for Till.
Till eventually got back to his feet, who found success late into the round with his strikes and ground and pound after a scramble.
Dricus du Plessis tapped Darren Till in seconds after tough round
In round 2, Darren Till came to play.
Du Plessis was breathing heavily in between rounds with Till the fresher fighter, outpointing him on the feet. Till pressed forward as he landed punches on du Plessis. Till found a home for his left hand and then a knee, which du Plessis used for a takedown.
Till got up relatively quickly, resuming his work in the striking and a labored du Plessis a stationary target.
‘Stillknocks’ survived the round with a late takedown, seeing the final frame of the fight.
Trading with the striker on the feet in round 3, du Plessis was a +100 underdog on the live betting lines right before he hit a thudding takedown on Till with two minutes left to go.
Du Plessis seized full mount right away, throwing ground and pound until Till rolled over to his back with du Plessis fishing for a rear-naked choke. Within 3 seconds of locking up the submission, ‘The Gorilla’ was forced to tap out.
#14-ranked at the time, this was the win that cemented the prospect as a legitimate top-10 contender.
Darren Till had been a frequent training partner of Khamzat Chimaev’s before the matchup, helping ‘Borz’ in his striking while Chimaev gave him hell in the grappling department, much like du Plessis did at UFC 282.
Chimaev and Till called themselves the ‘Smesh Bros’ when they worked together, the fighters forming quite a friendship inside and out of the gym.
Now the UFC Middleweight Champion of the world, the 31-year-old is rumored to defend his title against Till’s former teammate Chimaev this summer, du Plessis denying reports of injury that could otherwise rule him out of a prospective fight.