UFC fans have yet to see Dricus du Plessis taste defeat inside the octagon, with the South African remaining unbeaten since joining the promotion in 2020.
Since Dricus du Plessis's debut victory over Markus Perez with a brutal uppercut KO, he has remained unbeaten in the UFC as one of the top fighters in the promotion.
The UFC Middleweight champion is the #4 pound-for-pound fighter in the promotion, boasting a 9-0 record en route to becoming world champion.
With wins over Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya showing his mettle in the octagon, UFC 319 opponent Khamzat Chimaev will have to go all the way back to du Plessis's days fighting in South Africa to see how to beat "Stillknocks".
Du Plessis is 3-0 in title fights since joining the UFC, but his first attempt at winning gold went badly wrong for the South African fighter.
As a fresh-faced 20-year-old, du Plessis earned his shot at Garreth McLellan's EFC Middleweight title with four wins to kick off his professional career.
While du Plessis's MMA debut ended disastrously, despite him picking up the win, he followed it up with three impressive victories, including two first-round finishes and a pair of rear-naked choke submission victories.
That is the same finish that would prove to be his undoing against McLellan, who left a career in Rugby Union for Natal Sharks to embark on a run in MMA, eventually finding his way to the UFC.
The pair did battle at EFC 80 on August 30, 2014. The first round was mixed, with both men getting taken down but neither really dominating before the bell rang.
The second was fought almost exclusively on the ground, with McLellan getting the better of du Plessis and threatening to choke him out while the UFC Middleweight champion defended for his life.
The next round would be the final one and prove that du Plessis was not quite ready for a title fight. The barrage from McLellan had left du Plessis with a brutal cauliflower ear, but that was the least of his issues.
Midway through the round, after being on top for the first two minutes, McLellan managed to lock in a guillotine choke on du Plessis.
The younger fighter attempted to raise his hand to tap out, but looked to have gone completely out cold before he had the chance.
McLellan had ruthlessly put him to sleep, but showed great sportsmanship by rolling him into the recovery position before embracing du Plessis after handing the first loss of his career.
While that defeat was a harsh reality check for du Plessis, he would suffer one more loss before everything clicked into place for Stillknocks.
After seven wins in a row in his native South Africa, du Plessis travelled to Poland to face Roberto Soldic for the KSW Welterweight title.
He won the belt in impressive fashion, landing a TKO finish on the Croatian and picking up his first win outside of South Africa.
The pair would run it back six months later, where du Plessis would suffer the second and last loss of his career on October 6, 2018.
Soldic landed some massive shots in the third round before one huge left hook knocked du Plessis out cold to win back his title in London.
After that bout, du Plessis worked on his game and improved enough to win every fight he has had since, including multiple UFC Middleweight title fights leading up to the Chimaev clash at UFC 319.