UFC title contender Dricus Du Plessis recently went viral on social media when his impressive performance at Quintet South Africa resurfaced.
Du Plessis single-handedly submitted all five opponents from the Gracie Barra team, surprising many fans who were unaware of his high-level grappling skills.
In an interview, Du Plessis explained how the contest worked – each team had five competitors, and they would face off one-on-one with a time limit. If a submission occurred, the next team member would rotate in to grapple. Du Plessis was coming off a recent MMA match and admitted he wasn’t in the best shape, but devised a strategy to quickly finish each opponent rather than rely on conditioning and strength.
The Gracie Barra team had three black belts, but it didn’t phase Du Plessis. He swiftly submitted the first three opponents, all black belts, with ease. The final two teammates fell as well, completing an incredible 5-0 sweep by Du Plessis alone.
“I just I was in the middle of celebrating a fight. So, I mean, I was I wasn’t in great shape. And here we go and start grappling. First guy comes in. Yeah, I mean, I got, I got subs, I sub five of the, the whole team myself, that whole team. And while I remember I went for that because I said listen I don’t have the guys, I think I’m not that in that great shape. ”
“So what I’m going to do is I’m going to go and look for that finish as fast as I can, because they’re just used as bulldozer strength. And I just went for it, just went for it. And all of a sudden, yeah, the last guy got the last guy and yeah, man took out that team. That was, that was, that was crazy.”
Du Plessis attributed his success to his well-rounded skills and comfortability on the ground, telling Overdogs: “I love wrestling, I love grappling and I love striking. And I, I, I can do all of that. And that’s that’s one thing that I pride myself in, is wherever the fight goes, I am really comfortable.”
The dominant performance served notice that Du Plessis possesses a dangerous ground game to match his stand-up striking abilities. It demonstrated the importance of not overlooking any aspect of MMA, as Du Plessis proved his grappling is just as dangerous as his punches and kicks inside the octagon.
Du Plessis
