What a way to land in the Octagon. Decorated finisher, Dricus du Plessis gets a short-notice opportunity over former LFA middleweight best, Markus Perez – and scores a massive opening round knockout win.

The 26-year-old former KSW welterweight champion, and former EFC middleweight and welterweight gold holder faced some early adversity with an aggressive approach from Perez – with a notable body kick drawing the attention from du Plessis early in the opening frame.

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Scoring a body kick of his own, the knockout and submission ace then capitalized with a massive almost shovel left hook, dropping the Brazilian before following up with ground-and-pound to enter the UFC with a bang. Following the win, the South African spoke with former welterweight title challenger, Dan Hardy – where he called out streaking contender, Kevin Holland next.

Below, check out the highlights from du Plessis’ stunning Octagon debut win over Perez.

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Aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Follow along at @Ross_Markey on Twitter for all the latest news, fight announcements, opinion, and feature pieces.