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In the wake of his UFC 297 title victory, many are wondering who Dricus du Plessis' manager is, Daniel Rubenstein.
Rubenstein began his journey managing athletes after graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science degree. The mixed martial arts manager was part of the nationally well-regarded varsity wrestling team while attending the school and was also the president of the student-athlete advisory board.
Rubenstein has also spent time as a business technology consultant since graduating. He is also, as of this writing, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Purple Belt under Jay Valko of Chicago-based Valko BJJ. It has clearly been a good month for Rubenstein, who has a few things to celebrate even outside of his client becoming UFC middleweight champion.
Check out the recent birthday celebration for Rubenstein via Anik & Florian below
Dricus du Plessis' path to UFC gold
Dricus du Plessis entered the UFC octagon on the heels of collecting titles in EFC Worldwide and KSW.
The 30-year-old debuted in the company in October of 2020 and has since ascended to the very top of his weight division. Du Plessis debuted by stopping Markus Perez with strikes in the first round of their UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs Sandhagen bout.
The native of South Africa scored a second-round finish over Trevin Giles at UFC 264, then a points win over Brad Tavares at UFC 276 in July of 2022. Du Plessis scored a rear naked choke win over Darren Till at UFC 282, then halted Derek Brunson at UFC 285 in March of last year.
'Stillknocks' at that point, would secure his title shot by defeating Robert Whittaker and finish the former UFC champion by strikes in the second stanza of their UFC 290 clash.
DDP made good on his first bid at UFC gold when he fought then-champion Sean Strickland in Toronto.
Du Plessis captured the gold via a split decision against Strickland in the pay-per-view main event to lay claim to the title of UFC middleweight champion. A timeline is not yet known for the newly minted title holder's first defense, but he seems to favor a domestic defense.
Check out the video below:
