If there’s one person who doesn’t believe in doing things the easy way, it’s Dricus Du Plessis. From winning UFC gold to effortlessly dropping 45 pounds to make weight, the South African star has proved time and again how relentless grit is as dangerous as raw talent.

Du Plessis doesn’t stay close to the middleweight limit between his fights; rather, he puts immense effort into his preparation. He is set to face Kamaru Usman in a match at UFC Fight Night in Oklahoma on July 18.

Recently, Du Plessis talked about the time when he was getting ready to rematch Sean Strickland at UFC 312, and how he had to drop over 45 lbs to make weight.

“Around 102 -105 kgs (224 -231 lbs). That’s me, like, I would say three weeks after a fight, four weeks after a fight,” Du Plessis explained. “Then you’re training, eating whatever you didn’t eat in the last 12 weeks. You’re eating whatever you want, drinking a lot of beer and enjoying life a little for that period because you have to do that. You have to unwind.”

Cutting weight is, by far, one of the most brutal aspects of combat sports. Fighters are required to drop a massive amount of weight just before their official weigh-in, and then spend the next day constantly rehydrating in order to bulk up.

“We need to get punched in the face,” he said, as per Middle Easy. “You have to be able to perform at the highest level on earth—cardio-wise, muscle endurance, all of that. The whole body consists of water, so if your brain- I mean, the shots you take- you have to take all that into consideration when you’re cutting this weight.”

His relentless mindset, however, doesn’t simply stop at weight cuts. His training sessions are even more brutal and unconventional.

Inside the controversial taser training method that keeps Dricus Du Plessis sharp

Training under renowned South African MMA coach Morne Visser, Du Plessis undergoes famously intense training sessions to correct his mistakes.

Visser jokingly refers to it as his ‘tough-love method,’ forcing fighters to prioritize focus while eliminating bad habits.

Visser’s method of choice- using a TASER (cattle prod) to shock fighters whenever they make repeated mistakes. He famously calls it his “assistant coach.”

“He f*****up. So I helped him fix the problem. This is fixing the problem. He’s not on his toes. Not keeping up his hands. Not kicking when he needs to. So I’ll fix him.”

Of course, he doesn’t shock students in a way that would brutally hurt them. He uses his stun baton to shock them on the bottom of their feet.  

“It’s much better [than a] mental note,” Du Plessis, as per MMA Mania. “Much better than a sticky note.” He certainly sees the benefits of Visser’s unconventional training methods.

Which part of Du Plessis’ journey stunned you the most- his unconventional training methods or the weight-cut challenge?

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Written by

Avantika Das

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi