Dricus du Plessis may be one of the top fighters in the UFC today, but his skill in the ring pales in comparison to his trash-talking outside it.
While the likes of Chael Sonnen and Conor McGregor were famous for their big mouths, they never came close to being as savage and, frankly, needlessly mean as Dricus du Plessis.
His loud mouth has put him in some trouble, but also helped him win fights against numerous top contenders, as he got inside the heads of some of the top Middleweights in the division.
Here are three of the most brutally savage things du Plessis has said to fighters, including some things that are way over the line of decency.
Dricus du Plessis made fun of Sean Strickland’s abusive father
Du Plessis used Sean Strickland’s own traumatic childhood against him in one of his most savage attacks at the press conference before their fight at UFC 297.
Strickland has been open about his traumatic childhood, including his physically abusive father, which du Plessis sought to exploit before their UFC Middleweight title fight.
Du Plessis taunted Strickland by saying: “Why are you so angry, bro? You think your dad beat you? Your dad doesn’t have s— on me. I’m going to show you what it’s like.
“Every childhood memory you have is going to come back when I’m in there with you. The one where you lie in bed at night, where your dad comes in and beats the s— out of you.”
The trash-talking clearly worked, as du Plessis beat Strickland over five rounds to become the UFC Middleweight champion.
Israel Adesanya burst into tears at a press conference with Dricus du Plessis
Nobody expected the heated exchange between du Plessis and Israel Adesanya to end in the challenger storming off the stage in tears.
However, du Plessis clearly got on the Kiwi-Nigerian fighter’s nerves after alleging he had servants, mentioning his upbringing, and even bringing up the controversial allegations about Adesanya and his dog.
The press conference was to build up for their UFC 305 fight, but Adesanya came out looking the worse for wear as he burst into tears when talking about his family before storming off the stage, much to the UFC Middleweight champion’s delight.
He went on to force him to tap out at the PPV, making the scenes at the press conference even funnier from du Plessis’s perspective.
Dricus du Plessis laughed off advice from Darren Till after
After Darren Till tried to give Israel Adesanya advice on how to beat du Plessis, who beat him two years prior, the South African laughed off any and all notions that he knew how to defeat him in the octagon.
Du Plessis mentioned in the press conference how Till was “taken down by a boxer” in a post-fight brawl following his boxing debut against Anthony Taylor, before explaining how he decimated Till in their fight at UFC 282.
“I mean, the man got taken down by a boxer,” du Plessis chuckled. “Maybe try and practice what you preach, man, the man couldn’t stop a single takedown.
“The man said he won two rounds. He didn’t win two rounds — he’s crazy. I finished him out, stuck him, took him down, finished him in the third round.
“He says he won the first round… I struck him 61 times to zero, and there were 20 seconds left. That’s crazy stats.”
As we build to UFC 319, there is sure to be more savage moments from Du Plessis for Khamzat Chimaev.