Dricus Du Plessis' Last 6 Opponents Have All Been Former Champions

Dricus Du Plessis has quietly assembled one of the most formidable recent résumés in UFC middleweight history, with every one of his last six opponents carrying former champion status — a stretch that includes Kamaru Usman, Khamzat Chimaev, Sean Strickland (twice), Israel Adesanya, and Robert Whittaker.

Du Plessis, 32, represents South Africa out of Team CIT and holds a professional record of 23-3-0. Currently ranked second in the middleweight division and seventh pound-for-pound, the switch-stance fighter stands six-foot-one with a 76-inch reach. He lands 5.18 significant strikes per minute at 48 percent accuracy and adds a credible ground game, averaging 2.22 takedowns per 15 minutes alongside 0.7 submission attempts per 15 minutes — a rare blend of output that makes him dangerous across all phases.

Two of those six opponents were Sean Strickland, the current middleweight champion. Strickland, 35, carries a 31-7-0 record and fights out of Xtreme Couture. The American is one of the division's most relentless pressure fighters, throwing 6.04 significant strikes per minute — among the highest volume in the weight class — though he converts at 42 percent accuracy.

Israel Adesanya, another name on that list, is a two-time former middleweight champion who remains ranked eighth in the division at 36 years old. The City Kickboxing product from Nigeria stands six-foot-four with an 80-inch reach and has posted a 24-6-0 record across his career, landing 4.03 significant strikes per minute at 48 percent accuracy.

Why it matters

• Du Plessis has tested himself exclusively against championship-level competition across his last six outings, a gauntlet few active fighters can match.
• At just 32 and ranked second at middleweight, his prime years coincide directly with the division's deepest era of former champions.
• The stylistic range across those six opponents — wrestlers, strikers, grapplers — underscores the breadth of challenges he has faced.