Dricus Du Plessis’ coach Morne Visser & Everything About Their Relationship

Dricus Du Plessis is on a once-in-a-lifetime undefeated run in the UFC. His unusual fighting style, coupled with his relentless gas tank, has always been an intriguing aspect of his career among fans. However, the South African star has been surrounded by certain controversies, one of which involved du Plessis facing quite a bit of backlash from the MMA community. That happened after several videos that surfaced on the internet where he’s seen kissing ͏his coach, Morne Visser.

The controversial moment became a talking point among fans and fighters alike. But many fans do not know the inside story, so ahead of Dricus du Plessis’ third title defense at UFC 319 against Khamzat Chimaev, let’s find out. Who exactly is his coach, Morne Visser? Here’s what we know.

All about Dricus du Plessis’ coach, Morne Visser

Morne Visser is the head coach of Dricus du Plessis and the CIT Performance Institute, based in Pretoria, South Africa. The UFC middleweight champion has been training under Visser’s guidance for a long time now, and it has paid dividends. It’s his training regimes that helped Du Plessis go 9-0 in Dana White’s promotion, and while doing so, ‘Stillknocks’ claimed the UFC gold. On top of training ‘Stillknocks’, Visser also owns CIT Moto, which is a car dealership.

Morne Visser doesn’t just train Du Plessis, but he also trains budding South African prospects with the help of many other coaches who take care of various aspects of fighting. The staff at that gym includes Marino Cutendana, Jaco Du Plessis, JT Botha, Lumay vd. Watslaben, and Stephen de la Ray, among others. For strength and conditioning, Claudia Botha has taken up the reins as a coach. For BJJ, the gym has the giants, Wayne Harrison and Wayne Hulme. Needless to say, the gym ensures that the fighters get the most out of their training with some of the best coaches in the MMA realm.

To put the cherry on top, Du Plessis also trains with the Extreme Fighting Championship welterweight title holder, Mark Hulme, and the knockout artists David Buirski and Thapelo Seabi. However, the South African champion and his head coach weren’t free from getting called out in public. Let’s find out why!

Dricus Du Plessis and his coach’s viral moment

Dricus Du Plessis and his coach have been observed celebrating with hugs and kisses after several victories. Following his impressive win against middleweight contender Robert Whittaker, certain old clips featuring Du Plessis and his coach gained widespread attention. When the video’s popularity was at its peak, Sean Strickland wrote on Twitter (now X), “We often talk about Rose and Lad and their coaches, but we never talk about Dricus! Dricus hold up four fingers if you’re in danger.”

This tweet was made back during UFC 290. At that time, Strickland was not even the champion, and no one was expecting them to face each other. However, the winds took a different direction, and Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya to get the middleweight title at UFC 293. Later, ‘Stillknocks’ defeated ‘Tarzan’ to claim the title for himself at UFC 297.

During the press conference, Strickland again debated Du Plessis’s relationship with his coach and ripped apart the contender. “I want to make this f—ing man bleed, and this is going to be a good one. By the way, Dricus, I like Dricus, but we’re going to fight each other. We don’t have to be f—ing friends. I don’t have to be his coach; I am not trying to grab your d—,” said Strickland. Since we’re talking about Dricus du Plessis’ relationship with his coach, it’s important to understand that as well.

Like Du Plessis, fighter Cameron Saaiman was also seen kissing his coach. During an interview, the South African fighter said it was a part of their culture. “Well, that’s how we were brought up.” He also said it was very acceptable to greet their father or grandfather with a kiss or hug. On the other hand, Saaiman also understands how the gesture may come across as a little weird to some people.

That being said, Cameron Saaiman understood the confusion that the act created in the fighting world. He said, “I can imagine people watching the fight like knockout and then kissing your coach like what?” While the UFC bantamweight’s answer explains it, DDP has not really spoken about it. But the fact remains that the relationship he shares with Morne Visser is one of teacher and student, and having trained under him for so many years, they’ve gotten close like a family. And guess what? Morne Visser even pumped up du Plessis fans with a recent jibe at Khamzat Chimaev.

Du Plessis’ coach takes shots at Khamzat Chimaev

Dricus du Plessis’s coach has all the confidence in his fighter to overcome the seemingly unbeatable Khamzat Chimaev. He claimed that the champion has intentions of taking the fight to the ground, as he wants to outshine ‘Borz’ in his own game. Claiming that Chimaev never actually fought someone who likes to wrestle as much as he does, even though he’s fought Kamaru Usman, Morne Visser also took shots at the Chechen star’s striking skills.

“Khamzat doesn’t know what it is when people want to wrestle him… You can’t think that you’re going to beat my guy coming with one thing, and that’s wrestling,” Dricus du Plessis’s coach stated on the UFC 319 Countdown Video. “That guy is one-dimensional. Have you seen his standup? I wouldn’t even give him a pro license for his s–t standup. He doesn’t present any problem for us. We are the problem.”

Well, the relationship between Du Plessis and Morne Visser seems to be in a great place, and what’s left to see now is if the South African star can keep his UFC title this weekend with his coach by his side. What do you think? Let us know in the comments down below.