For the second time in the last year, Dricus du Plessis successfully defended his UFC title, backing up victory over Israel Adesanya with another dominant effort against Sean Strickland.
With his status and earning power only increasing, it’s reported by The Sports Rush that the 31-year-old allegedly received a base salary of $1.2 million, an additional fee of $400,000 from his pay-per-view payout, and $42,000 in sponsorships.
That would take his total earnings to a staggering $2.14 million (about R40 million), and while that may seem eye-watering, other projections from the likes of GiveMeSport even suggest that figure could be closer to $3 million (R61m) as a winner of the main event.
NO STOPPING DRICUS DU PLESSIS
In his second fight against Strickland, Du Plessis was in absolute ‘beast mode’, effectively not looking back after the moment he broke his opponent’s nose in the fourth round.
“I told him that he was ugly before obviously when we fought because he’s not a pretty person but when I saw him after that when I hit him in the nose I said, ‘Wow, I can’t believe you got uglier’ and he did, I was like, ‘Your nose is so screwed up now’,” Du Plessis said when asked what he told Strickland during a post-fight press conference.
“He tried to break his nose back in the middle of the fight and for some weird reason, I was giving him the opportunity I was like, okay, let him get his nose (back in place) and then I was like, no, punch this guy in the face while he’s trying to do this.”
While speaking on the ESPN MMA show after his UFC 312 fight, Du Plessis also highlighted that he would like to face the #3-ranked middleweight Khamzat Chimaev next.
“Khamzat has that first-round luck, but like we saw tonight, I make adjustments. Khamzat is an incredible fighter. Nobody has been able to beat him. But he hasn’t fought anybody of note other than Robert Whittaker. That is it.”
WHAT WAS YOUR HIGHLIGHT FROM THE LAST DDP FIGHT?
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