UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus “Stillknocks” du Plessis Teams Up With Betway

Betway is delighted to welcome the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Dricus “Stillknocks” du Plessis to the Betway Squad.

du Plessis, the reigning and undisputed middleweight king is currently undefeated in the world’s biggest mixed martial arts organization, the UFC, boasting a commanding 10-fight win streak with a stellar 22-2-0 career record.

The South Africa started his career in kickboxing and in 2012 became the country’s first WAKO K-1 world champion, du Plessis switched to Mixed Martial Arts shortly after that and after 3 amateur fights, made his debut at the Extreme Fighting Championship, he lost only once at EFC 33 before going on to become welterweight and middleweight champion.

As his star shone bright in African MMA, du Plessis went abroad to face a new challenge, becoming the KSW welterweight champion in 2018, before suffering only the second loss of his career, since then the dominant du Plessis is yet to taste defeat.

His UFC debut came on October 11 2020, where he beat Markus Perez, following that he claimed victories over Trevin Giles, Brad Tavares, Darren Till, Derek Brunson and former champion Robert Whittaker, many expected du Plessis to lose to the man known as “the Reaper”, but the South African prevailed in dominant fashion to leave the world in awe. Hi s awkward style has drawn much debate from all corners of the world, but despite the criticism, du Plessis has managed to overcome any opponent in his path.

du Plessis made history at UFC 297 in Toronto when he became South Africa’s first UFC world champion after beating American Sean Strickland by split decision. He has since continued his meteoric rise by defending his belt against former two-time champion Israel Adesanya, winning by submission at UFC 305 in Perth in August of last year.

Betway Africa’s Head of Marketing, Mark Rowles, who was delighted to add du Plessis to the impressive Betway Squad commented, “At Betway, we pride ourselves on aligning our global recognised brand with exceptional sporting properties such as the Betway SA20, Betway Premiership, and the Springboks, as well as working with inspirational sports stars and we are immensely proud to have Dricus join us. He is a great ambassador for South Africa and African MMA, he has established himself as one of the top MMA athletes in the world, his International Fighter of the Year award is testament to the incredible year he has had in the UFC and we wish him well for his title defence at UFC 312. We are all behind the champ.”

The African MMA superstar joins the Betway Squad as he prepares to defend his title at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia on 8 February 2025 against the man he took the belt from in Toronto to become the first ever UFC champion from the “rainbow nation.”

“It is absolutely incredible working with a world class brand like Betway, it is such a big part of our sport, betting on your favourite fighter is such an important part of this game that makes it the most fun sport in the world to watch, it is amazing to have a company like Betway backing me, backing athletes, helping the sport grow and without brands like that we wouldn’t be here,” said the champion of his partnership with Betway.

The 31-year-old continues to inspire a nation through his performances in the UFC octagon and hopes to see more people take up the sport after firmly putting African MMA in the spotlight in 2024. His gym in Pretoria, Team CIT has doubled in size in the past 18 months and continues to swell each month.

Source: Briefly News