Du Plessis became UFC middleweight champion after defeating Sean Strickland at UFC 297 via unanimous decision, becoming the first South African Champion of the UFC. Dricus Du Plessis has had a storied professional MMA career, making a name for himself in Extreme Fighting Championship. Dricus debuted at EFC 21, building a strong resume of impressive submissions, especially the rear naked choke, and after Dricus Du Plessis lost to Garreth McLellan in an EFC middleweight title fight, Dricus Du Plessis went on an impressive winning streak to beat Martin Van Staden at EFC 50 for the EFC welterweight championship and on top of that, beating Yannick Bahati at EFC 62 for the EFC middleweight championship, turning Dricus into an MMA double champion at EFC. Afterward, Dricus won and lost the KSW welterweight championship, defended his EFC middleweight championship, and debuted in the UFC against Markus Perez at UFC Fight Island 5, where Dricus Du Plessis knocked out Markus Perez in October 2020. Dricus then developed his UFC win streak, knocking out Trevin Giles at UFC 264, defeating Brad Tavares at UFC 276, submitting Darren Till at UFC 282, knocking out Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, and then defeating Sean Strickland at UFC 297 to become the UFC middleweight champion. Along the way, Dricus Du Plessis developed a rivalry with former UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya regarding their African heritage.