“He’s African and so is Elon” - Tristan Tate blasts “super racist” naysayers for questioning UFC champ Dricus du Plessis’ African heritage

Controversial social media influencer Tristan Tate weighed in on the debate surrounding the UFC's newly crowned middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis.

Du Plessis challenged Sean Strickland for his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 297, the promotion's opening pay-per-view of 2024. After a fiercely fought five rounds between the two middleweights, du Plessis was ruled the victor on the judges' scorecards.

The split decision (47–48, 48–47, 48–47) victory made du Plessis the first South African UFC champion in history. However, there was a debate surrounding his true heritage and legacy in the months leading up to the fight.

Tate weighed in on the debate and defended 'Stillknocks,' labeling those that questioned his heritage 'racist.' He also compared the middleweight champion to tech billionaire, Elon Musk, who hails from South Africa as well.

"Saying @dricusduplessis isn’t African because he’s white is super racist. He’s African and so is Elon, do none of you know basic history? shut the f**k up."

Check out Tristan Tate's post below:

Du Plessis was born in the city of Welkom in South Africa and is Afrikaner by ethnicity. Afrikaaners are descendents from the earliest Dutch settlers in Africa. Musk was also born in in Pretoria, South Africa, the administrative capital of the country and only 310 kilometres away from du Plessis' birthplace.

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Fans react to Tristan Tate's defense of Dricus du Plessis' heritage

Fans reacted to Tristan Tate's comments on Dricus du Plessis' heritage. Many argued about his genetics and his European ancestry as factors that disqualified him from being an African. They presented their counter arguments by citing European migrant's heritages.

Fans added comments like:

"I'm cool with not calling them african as long as we don't try to act like the (migrants) in Europe are european."

"I’m not saying he’s not African, but Are we just going to Ignore the genetic aspect? If he lived in China, would you say he’s a Chinese man?"

"Wait, what? So all them dark skinned people borned in Europe, isn't European?"

"He’s not African. You don’t shit about our history."

Other fans sided with Tate and embraced du Plessis as a South African. They said:

"People just cannot understand that culture is not color, color is not nationality, nationality is not identity... In 2024 each nation should be multi cultural and multi colors"

"As an African myself born and raised, Dricus is our African brother"

Check out fans comments in the screenshots below:

Fans react to Tristan Tate's comments on X.