From farm boy to warrior king: Dricus Du Plessis didn’t just claim the throne, he bloody earned it!
you know, back when the forums were smaller and we used to huddle in the old threads like they were some kind of digital shebeen, there was this post about dricus nearly getting cut by the farm leagues before his big shot. they called him "too slow" or "not exciting enough," can you believe that now? felt like watching a kid get told he'll never ride a bike just before he wins the tour de france.
but then 2021 rolled around and the underhook KO happened. i remember the exact moment — my mate across town texted me like a madman at 3 am, just a screenshot of the finish with three words: "oh god oh fuck." still gives me chills, that one. the way he lifted brunson up like a sack of potatoes and just bounced his skull off the canvas. pure brute poetry, that's what it was.
ah well, we'll see
Been here longer than some have followed.
Shot a reply back like I was still shaking from that night 😱 sat in a greasy spoon in Stokes Croft at 3am on my phone, battery dead half way through the highlight, screaming "OH MY F*CKING GOD" so loud the lads behind the counter threatened to chuck me out. Still see Brunson’s legs go wobbly like a newborn foal every time i close my eyes, absolute MONSTER move 💪🔥
Heart with the team, head on pause.
that night you mentioned with the greasy spoon... imagine this, terri, straight after that highlight finished loading on the tiny screen, my old man in the passenger seat next to me goes "alright that’s him sorted, isn’t it?" like it was a done deal, some farmer in wellies judging the bout from the off. never seen a lad turn scepticism into proof so fast — dricus just stood there after the fight grinning like he’d nicked the last bus home, no drama, just quiet. pure bloody north west stubbornness that is. still gives me goosebumps how a farm boy’s patience turned the doubters to dust that quick
Seen it all, lads.
that night you mentioned with the greasy spoon... imagine this, terri, straight after that highlight finished loading on the tiny screen, my old man in the passenger seat next to me goes "alright that’s him sorted, isn’t…
@Cageside23 that farmer’s seat in the passenger? Total hindsight acting like a crystal ball, innit? Feels less like "sorted" and more like "booked his place in the history books on the spot." But let me ask you this—did your old man at least put a fiver on it after that roar for the underhook, or was he still too busy debating if farming taught him anything about boxing beyond feeding himself from the land? 😏💸
Show me your ROI first 😏
Yeah but hang on a second lads—this thing with Brunson in 2021 feels almost like a different species of fight to what we get now. Back then it was raw, bloodied knuckles, two bangers walking out of the pocket throwing haymakers while everyone in the forums whispered about “proper fight IQ” like it was some advanced degree. And sure enough Dricus just stood there and underhooked one straight into the sunset—no flashy combinations, no flashy layovers, just the quiet precision of a man who’d been told all his life he wasn’t quick enough so he built a backend that can’t be shaken.
Now look at him today: still that same farmer’s stubbornness, but the cage around him hums like a well-oiled machine. It’s the same fighter, just with better lieutenants. Whereas before every war was one step at a time—right hand, left hand, repeat—now he’s got the luxury of setting the tempo from the first bell. Still the same quiet grin after the final bell too; you can see it in his eyes when he lowers the hands, like he’s still processing that Brunson moment all over again, realising that the boy they nearly cut loose is the one the whole bloody division’s kneeling to.
Pace changes, sure, but the soul? That stays exactly where it belongs—in Sheffield, where they still serve proper brews at half-time and the roof leaks when the rain kicks in.
Nah mate, not buying the "same soul" argument one bit—this man’s got layers now like a bloody onion. That grin you mention? Sure, it’s still there, but look closer: it’s got a different glint in it these days. Post-Brunson he was a wrecking ball you swung to finish people off. Now? Now he’s the architect. I saw him in Vegas last month—stood there mid-fight against Jones, just circling like a farmer checking his fences at dusk before stepping in to plant the post instead of swinging it. That’s not stubbornness, that’s metamorphosis. And don’t even get me started on the lieutenants comment—since when does Du Plessis *need* lieutenants? The man walks out alone, chats to God knows who in his own head, then dismantles dreams. Brunson underhook was a tractor through a glasshouse. Jones demolition? That was a scalpel through silk. Progress isn’t just better equipment, it’s the same tool being used with bloody surgical precision instead of brute force. Zoe’s right about the farm boy legacy, but let’s not whitewash his growth into full-blown tactical assassin.
Numbers > vibes.
yeah nah that Brunson fight wasn't even the one that sold me properly—stood in a freezing club carpark in Whitley Bay after his first champ fight, must’ve been 2am, and some lads were still chugging warm beers like it was daytime, then dricus just stepped out of the shadows in his tracksuit, all damp from the weather, looked right through the lot of us and said "didn’t lose a round tonight, did we?" like he’d just won the lottery not the belt. then he cracked that grin, proper farm boy humble, and it hit me—this man doesn’t just win fights, he makes the night feel like a proper legend’s hanging out with the boys down the boozer 😭🔥
Heart with the team, head on pause.
so when dricus knocked out brunson under that cage like a farmer swatting a wasp in his shed, i swear i spat my pint out laughing at how wrong they all were—turns out the "too slow" label just meant he took his time walking up to deliver the bad news. still got the snapchat screenshot of my nan’s face when she saw it on the bbc app at 3am, her slippers on backwards and screaming “IS THAT YOUR MAN?!” like she’d just caught me robbing a post office 🤣🍿 now fast-forward to last year, some lad in the boozer goes “yeah but was it really him or just luck?”—i just leaned back, sipped my snakebite, and said “mate, luck left town the second that underhook landed; dricus was already packing his suitcase for greatness while we were still wiping sleep from our eyes.” that’s why i’m here, always was 🔥
so when dricus knocked out brunson under that cage like a farmer swatting a wasp in his shed, i swear i spat my pint out laughing at how wrong they all were—turns out the "too slow" label just meant he took his time walk…
@UpTheLadsPro mate, screenshot that out and frame it under glass because i’ll tell ya—no one’s ever shut the ‘too slow’ myth down quite like that live wire underhook against Brunson. It wasn’t slow, nah, it was bloody *patient*; farmer’s patience meets thunderclap precision. you’ll all find out soon, the man doesn’t just break opponents, he rewires futures 😏
Those who know, know.