Dricus Du Plessis (20-2) paid a considerable price for jumping out of the Octagon to meet Donald Trump at UFC 290.
“Stillknocks” is slated to challenge Sean Strickland (28-5) for the middleweight title at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto. The South African earned the shot with a second-round knockout over former champ Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 in July. Following his stoppage win over “The Reaper”, du Plessis jumped over the fence to greet former United States President Donald Trump, resulting in a $10,000 fine. The fine did not come as a surprise as the South African, who had admittedly been warned of the consequences several times. However, du Plessis found it “too cool” of an opportunity to let go.
“That was the initial fine for jumping over the cage. They said – they told us beforehand – if you jump over [the fence], you’re getting a $10,000 fine,” the 29-year-old said in an interview with Fight in Sight. “I was like, ‘I don’t know why you guys keep on hammering about me jumping over the fence, I’ve never done it before. It was literally the last instruction I got just before walking into the cage.”
“After the fight, I looked to the side and Trump stood up and gave me an ovation. I was like, ‘This is too cool of a moment for me to let by,’ and well, I jumped over the fence and greeted Trump…This was the president of the United States. I wasn’t not going to greet him; this is amazing.”
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