EIGHT fights into his UFC career, Dricus du Plessis remains an unsolved puzzle for fighters in the middleweight division as the 31-year-old has remained undefeated heading into his ninth fight this coming Sunday in Sydney.

Du Plessis is set to defend his world title for the second time, and this time against the very same man he dethroned – Sean Strickland – to become South Africa’s very first UFC world champion.

His unbeaten record remains one of the biggest myths in the sport as the South African athlete is by no means the most talented fighter, nor is he the most stylish.

In trying to decode the South African’s fighting style, experts have used the terms “awkward” and “unorthodox” in an attempt to make sense of or describe Du Plessis’ fight style.

“The thing about Dricus is he does nothing right,” Strickland said on Wednesday in yet another failed attempt to decode the puzzle that is Du Plessis. “But it always works out.”

Because the South African isn’t the prettiest striker nor the cleanest technically inside the octagon, his opponents and their coaches are yet to be able to invent a method to take him down.

The very same terms that they use to describe his fight style reveal just how clueless they are, and how unsettled they are by the often inelegant Du Plessis.

However, Du Plessis – alongside his coach Morné Visser – believe they continue to improve their repertoire as they are set to headline the second international fight week of the year at UFC 312 on Sunday.

The South African believes Strickland has not improved one bit since their first fight in Toronto a year ago, and aims to use this to his advantage at the Qudos Bank Arena this weekend.

“The Sean Strickland we saw against Paolo Costa was the exact same fighter that fought me. There was literally no change. Believe me, I’m a completely different fighter,” Du Plessis said on Wednesday after a brief public work-out.

“The fighter that fought Strickland the first time and the fighter that fought (Israel) Adesanya is two different people. I’m so much better. I’m bigger and stronger.

“Finishing this fight is what I’m going there to do. I’ll give him till the fourth round. The last fight, I saw him break in the third round, and this time when I see that, it won’t be going to the fifth.”

On Wednesday, the champion addressed the media wearing a shirt printed ‘Trump prefers champions’, making it clear where he stands amid what is currently happening between US President Donald Trump, South Africa as a country and the world at large.

Trump has accused South Africa of “confiscating land” and treating “certain classes of people” badly.

South African-born Elon Musk also weighed in on the matter, accusing South Africa and President Cyril Ramaphosa of “having openly racist laws”.

Dricus Du Plessis pulled up to media day wearing a shirt that says “Trump Prefers Champions” pic.twitter.com/qosbAWvE23
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) February 5, 2025

Du Plessis emphasised his backing of Trump and Musk in front of the media on Wednesday.

“With everything going on right now, change is coming, good changes. Big shout-out to fellow South African Elon Musk for also doing the right thing. Trump prefers champions,” said Du Plessis.

“With Trump being re-elected, which is absolutely incredible, I think he’s an amazing, amazing president.”