Dricus du Plessis' first walk into Chicago’s iconic United Center was a memorable one.
The UFC middleweight champion is set to defend his belt against one of the sport’s most fearsome fighters — undefeated Chechen mauler Khamzat Chimaev — atop the UFC 319 pay-per-view card at the home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls on Aug. 16.
Though du Plessis hails from South Africa, he has studied the mentality of one of America’s most revered and ruthless sporting heroes, Michael Jordan.
So it’s no surprise that he stood in awe at Jordan’s statue, reading the simple yet powerful 11-word inscription that adorns it: “The best there ever was. The best there ever will be.”
“That’s goals, for any athlete," du Plessis said Wednesday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show."
“Michael Jordan is one of my sporting heroes. I’ve read so many books on his mindset and how he approaches things.”
Now du Plessis plots his own pathway, not just to another championship defense, but to outright dominance in the sport.
The 31-year-old told Uncrowned that he is targeting MMA's No. 1 pound-for-pound spot. He wants to go out like Jordan, as a bonafide legend of the game he plays. He’s not just basking in the legacy of others — he wants to continue forging his own.
Du Plessis already beat former UFC champions Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland (twice) and Israel Adesanya. Regardless, he's the underdog to the surging bookmakers’ favorite, Chimaev.
“He is a special fighter … incredibly good,” du Plessis acknowledged of his challenger.
Spend any time around du Plessis and it becomes quickly apparent that he has no qualms acknowledging the greatness of his opponents. That's because he is so confident in his own growth as a fighter and as a champion.
It is something his critics have perhaps been slow to recognize. Yes, du Plessis has an awkward style of striking. And though it looks like he’s breathing heavily after only a round, he really possesses one of the best engines in the entire roster. That’s no accident. It’s a product of a lifetime's work. And it’s work he continues to fine-tune to this day.
“I don't care if people say, 'Dricus isn't a good champion,'” he explained. “I'm getting paid, I'm defending the belt, twice, and now a third time. I've never had a boring fight.
“Up until a month ago, I had fought everyone in the top five except Nassourdine Imavov. That's the résumé. I want to fight the best guys, and I wanted the Khamzat fight so bad.
“I'm getting respect from more people now, but I'm proven, I'm winning. My style is not for everyone, it's awkward.”
It’s awkward on purpose.
“It’s something they’ve never seen," du Plessis said. "So that’s why it’s awkward. How do you defend that? I do things in a way that my coaches and I have been training for. We look at a fighter, 'This is the way they do it, and this is a better way to do it.' Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
“If you throw your strikes like everyone else, eventually somebody will be able to figure that out. It’s not that I’m awkward … I’m different. While people were critiquing, they should be taking notes because they'll fall behind and have to play catch-up.”
Though du Plessis has found his groove as a champion, he grades his current abilities as merely a six out of 10. “I’m far from giving the performance that I know I can,” he pledged.
“I'm chasing the perfect round, and the perfect fight. I think it's impossible, but it's worth chasing.”
It's a mindset that bears comparison to Jordan, who constantly battled himself to stay elite. For du Plessis, it's finding that punch-perfect performance — something he feels may be within himself.
The comparisons don't stop there.
No matter how brutal it may sound to a neutral observer, Jordan's killer instinct was so fierce that coach Mike Malone once said the shooting guard would "reach into your chest and pull your heart out if he had to win a game." Du Plessis has that in his soul too, because he'd fight anyone for the championship. He said he even requested the UFC to book the fight in enemy territory, in front of his opponent’s own fans.
"I begged them, actually — I wanted to fight [Chimaev] in Abu Dhabi, fighting in his neck of the woods, like I have been doing with with so many other opponents," du Plessis said. "I've grown quite fond of that.
“I’d fight my brother for my title, if I had to, and I’d try to kill him. I promise you that. And he’s my best friend. When we get in the [Octagon], there are no friends. There are no relationships in a fight.”
Fortunately, on Aug. 16, du Plessis isn’t fighting a friend nor a relative. He’s fighting Chimaev, someone he doesn’t think much of as a person, but still holds in high regard.
“From the first time I saw him fight, I knew he was going to be special," du Plessis said of his challenger.
“There was never a stage where I thought he was overrated. He’s as good as people think. But I’m better than people think.”
If, indeed, du Plessis is better than people think, and he does leave the United Center with a resounding win over Chimaev, then it may well push him higher on the pound-for-pound list.
Du Plessis lauds UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria as the sport's latest No. 1 for the way Topuria vanquished Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira in back-to-back-to-back bouts. “Absolutely incredible,” du Plessis said of the striker. “Merab [Dvalishvili] is also incredible. People have gotten so used to [Islam] Makhachev winning that they've forgotten how amazing he is.”
Considering the proven exploits of those top three, du Plessis said it will be a tough ask to leapfrog any of them with one win over Chimaev.
Yet before his career is done, he’ll have “been ranked at the top,” regardless. That, he promises.
"[Chimaev is] incredibly good,” du Plessis said. “But jeez, I can't wait. This win? This is going to be history. I'm going out there and will shock the world once again.
“You will see the boogeyman break in there, and realize there will be only one boogeyman in the division.
“And that man will be me.”
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