The middleweight champion takes on big rival Israel Adesanya in Perth, Australia this weekend.
Although Dricus du Plessis will be the man stepping into the octagon early on Sunday morning (SA time), it is the men behind the scenes that keep the champion on his toes.
The man from Pretoria is looking to successfully defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight crown for the first time when he takes on Nigeria’s Israel Adesanya in Perth, Australia.
Du Plessis has only belonged to one gym since his professional mixed martial arts debut back in 2013 and he has on many occasions openly stated that the team behind him are one of the main reasons behind his success.
‘Train hard, fight easy’
Team CIT MMA, in the heart of Pretoria in Hatfield, and led by their charismatic head coach Morne Visser, is the place Du Plessis has called home for all these years.
“Not only has Morne Visser evolved me as a fighter, without him I wouldn’t be here,” said Du Plessis.
“He has always said to me, if you train hard then you fight easy. If you are willing to put in the work in the gym then the rest takes care of itself.”
And although Du Plessis is by far the flagship fighter at the gym, Visser has coached many champions in the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) — Africa’s biggest MMA organisation.
The list includes current UFC fighter and former EFC bantamweight champion Cameron Saaiman, multiple EFC heavyweight champion Ruan Potts, and former EFC lightweight champs and MMA pioneers Leon Mynhardt and Adam Speechly, to name a few.
Fight plan and a taser
Visser is not the sort of coach who comes into the gym and treats each upcoming fight as the same. He meticulously studies all of his fighters’ opponents and comes up with a separate game-plan for each and every fight.
The coach also has a very interesting assistant, who makes sure every fighter is kept on his toes at all times — a taser.
“This is my assistant coach,” said a grinning Visser at his gym with his trusty taser in hand.
“So if they mess up, I help them fix the problem (by tasing the bottom of their feet). Not on his toes, not picking up his hands, not kicking when he needs to, this fixes the problem.”
And although this does not seem like the most orthodox of methods, Du Plessis sees the need for it.
“It’s a good mental note, much better than a sticky note,” said the smiling champ.
And come the weekend, Du Plessis knows he will be in shape both mentally and physically thanks to all the men in his corner.
