WATCH: Donald Trump salutes SA's Dricus du Plessis following his whirlwind UFC win in Las Vegas

FILE - Dricus Du Plessis won the middleweight title at UFC290 Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images via AFP

FILE - Dricus Du Plessis won the middleweight title at UFC290 Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images via AFP

Published Jul 10, 2023

Share

Former United States president Donald Trump was among the first people on Saturday night to congratulate South Africa's Dricus du Plessis following his whirlwind second-round win over Australia’s Robert Whittaker in their scheduled five-rounder at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Video footage of the 77-year-old Trump shaking Du Plessis' hand after the fight went viral. Before Du Plessis' UFC bout, Trump, usually a crowd favourite at mixed martial arts bouts, was given a rousing welcome as he entered the arena. He was a special guest of UFC president Dana White.

Trump was seated ringside on the apron next to White, who also congratulated Du Plessis. Earlier this year, Trump sat alongside the notorious Mike Tyson, ye of ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ fame, at a UFC bout.

Du Plessis, stunned the crowd when he pummelled the New Zealand-born Australian Whittaker in the second round. Whittaker offered no resistance as Du Plessis’ punches rained down on him and the referee stopped the fight at 2:23 minutes into the second round.

With this win, the undefeated Du Plessis, nicknamed 'Stillknocks' moved to 6-0. It was the second successive time that he ended a bout in the second round.

As Du Plessis was preparing to leave the octagon to approach Trump, he was confronted by the reigning world middleweight champion 33-year-old Israel Adesanya, the Nigeria-born New Zealander.

Adesanya, who was allowed to enter the ring straight after the result was announced, gave the 29-year-old Du Plessis an earful but the South African remained quiet until officials moved the two away from each other.

Adesanya let rip with a series of expletives in Du Plessis face: "This is my African brother right here, let's go n*gga, what's up b*tch?" Adesanya yelled during their UFC 290 face-off. "Let's go n*gga, here n*gga. Wassup n*gga? Yeah, my African brother!"

@Herman_Gibbs

Related Topics:

ufcdonald trump