Dricus Du Plessis Wins Big at 2024 World MMA Awards After Retaining UFC Title

Dricus Du Plessis Wins Big at 2024 World MMA Awards After Retaining UFC Title

  • Dricus du Plessis wins one of the top prizes at the 2024 World MMA Awards after an amazing year without a defeat in the UFC
  • The South African MMA star defended his UFC Middleweight title twice this year, with former champion Israel Adesanya being is last victim
  • The 30-year-old's triumph over four other nominees sparked different reacts from MMA fans on social media platform, Instagram

South African mixed martial arts star Dricus du Plessis was one of the winners at the 2024 World MMA Awards, held on Thursday, December 5, 2024.

The event was held at the V*rgin Hotels Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the United States of America.

The 30-year-old had a fantastic run in the year under review as he defeated Robert Whittaker in UFC 290, Sean Strickland in UFC 297, and Israel Adesanya in UFC 305.

Dricus Du Plessis wins big at the 2024 World MMA Awards.
Dricus Du Plessis named the International Fighter of the Year at the 2024 World MMA Awards.
Source: Getty Images

Du Plessis wins big at World MMA awards

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According to MMA Fighting, du Plessis was nominated alongside four other fighters for one of the 2024 World MMA Awards categories.

The Mzansi fighter won the International Fighter of the Year ahead of other nominees: Chihiro Suzuki, Ilia Topuria, Jack Della Maddalena, and Zhang Weili.

It was a deserving award for du Plessis, as he had two title defences this year and took two former champions (Whittaker and Adesanya).

Reactions as du Plessis win International Fighter of the Year

markovorster said:

"Dricus is my boy, but that should have gone to Alex."

dylanclarkson86 wrote:

"Strickland is out there somewhere still howling."

nakhane_ntame reacted:

"South Africa is proud."

mc_kira_b commented:

"Dricus had the bigger upset win over adesanya but for as much as it pains my soul to say it, this award should've gone to Illia. Theres arguably never been a greater back to back win in the history of the UFC in the same calendar year. Chama is the people's champ for sure but for as stellar a performance Roundtree put on we all knew it was a formality against a cerebral."

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Du Plessis draws inspiration from Mzansi legends

Briefly News earlier reported that du Plessis was spotted with South African cricket and rugby legends.

The UFC champions posted a picture of him with the two Mzansi legends at the the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on his Instagram page.

Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Raphael Abiola avatar

Raphael Abiola (sports editor) Raphael Abiola is a Nigerian Sports Journalist with over seven years of experience. He obtained a B.Tech degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, in 2015. Raphael previously worked as a football editor at Stakegains (2016-2018) and a content editor with Opera News Nigeria (2018-2023). Raphael then worked as an Editor for the Local Desk at Sports Brief (2023-2024). Reach him via email at raphael.abiola@sportsbrief.com.