Dricus du Plessis is not only one of the best MMA fighters in the world, but he is also a master trash talker, with an uncanny ability of getting into his opponent’s heads.
The South African has enjoyed a tremendous rise in the UFC over the last few years, with his personality turning him into one of the most entertaining figures in the organisation.
Here, we take a closer look at some of his best lines and moments from recent press conferences, including the two times he literally made his opponents cry.
1 – I don’t care about your story
Let’s start with one of the crying incidents. Du Plessis did a tremendous job of getting into the head of UFC legend Israel Adesanya ahead of their UFC 305 showdown.
The animosity between them was already present, with Du Plessis often claiming he was the ‘real African’ UFC champion – essentially a jab at other African-born UFC champions who moved abroad to live.
When the two men were going at it during their press conference, Adesanya attacked his rival by saying he ‘didn’t know his story’. To which, the South African simply said he ‘didn’t care about his story’. A simple rebuttal, but one which struck a nerve and led to Adesanya getting very emotional.
2 – Stop searching for my willy on the internet
In the lead up to the fight with Adesanya, the Nigerian-born fighter questioned Du Plessis’ African roots by using a picture from a previous weigh-in and poking fun of his manhood.
The response from the South African was even better, with Du Plessis simply telling his rival to ‘stop searching for his willy on the internet’.
3 – Nobody said anything about dogs
This next one is straight out of South Park, but before we get to it, here’s the backstory.
Back in September 2023, Adesanya made a wild confession about touching his dog’s genitalia back when he was 22 years old. No, we’re not kidding.
To quote him correctly, Adesanya said in his tweet: “I flicked my dogs soft willy while patting his belly and I thought it was funny.”
The only funny thing about it was Du Plessis bringing the subject up during the press conference. As soon as Adesanya used the word ‘underdog’, the South African capitalised and shouted “nobody said anything about dogs bro, chill out” – something which appeared to dumbfound his opponent.
4 – Your dad doesn’t have s**t on me
This one was a ‘wow, did he really go there’ moment.
Sean Strickland has previously opened up on his difficult past as a child, though that did not stop Du Plessis from using it as ammunition in the presser.
When locked in a verbal joust with Strickland, Du Plessis unloaded on his rival and came out with the brutal: “You think your dad beat the s**t out of you? Your dad doesn’t have s**t on me.”
He later added: “Every childhood memory you have is going to come back when I’m in there with you.”
Strickland did not take the comments well and became visibly outraged. Not long later, he appeared on Theo Von’s podcast and shed a few tears as he looked back on his childhood.
6 – Maybe you can be a better daddy to your own son
Du Plessis has been winding opponents up way before his UFC days.
Back in the summer of 2017, the South African was preparing for a championship bout with Yannick Bahati.
Du Plessis got a nerve when he accused his opponent of not giving his son enough attention. When Bahati dared his opponent to repeat the claim, Du Plessis obliged and did just that… three times actually.
He finished off by saying: “Maybe you can be a better daddy to me than your own son. That would be great.”
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