MMA
Stephen Kihn, Special to KweséESPN 5y

South Africa's Dricus du Plessis 'willing to die' at KSW 45

MMA

Dual promotion and two-division champion Dricus du Plessis says fear is a constant companion in professional mixed martial arts, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The 24-year-old is arguably South Africa's biggest MMA star, as he holds the local EFC middleweight and welterweight belts, as well as the 77kg strap in Poland-based fight organisation KSW.

Du Plessis (12-1) is currently preparing for his maiden KSW title defence against former champ Roberto Soldic (13-3) at The SSE Arena, Wembley in London on Saturday.

'Stillknocks' toppled the hard-hitting Soldic with a second-round TKO in April for his eighth straight finish on his KSW debut in Wroclaw.

And while Du Plessis is confident he will prevail in the rematch at KSW 45, getting to that point entails dealing with pre-fight jitters.

"My only fear is losing," Du Plessis said after a training session at his gym CIT in Hatfield, Pretoria.

"The only way I get rid of that fear is right here, training my a** off every single day, putting in two/three sessions, putting in the hard yards, doing what needs to be done.

"That is how I get rid of fear because the only thing I fear is losing. I mean, it's also part of the game. I only fear not to go out there and perform. As long as I perform, if he beats me and was better on the night then he deserves it.

"But I know for a fact I've prepared myself mentally and physically as hard as possible to make sure that doesn't happen.

"So fear, anyone that tells you they have no fear going into a fight is a liar. I do have fear but I use that fear to motivate me to go out there and put it all on the line, and be willing to die out there every single time."

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