Dricus Du
Plessis could help bring an
Ultimate Fighting Championship event to his home country if he
successfully defends his middleweight title on Saturday night.
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The South Africa native will face Israel
Adesanya in the UFC 305
main event at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Tension for the
championship bout initially began to build last summer, when Du
Plessis and Adesanya had a
heated face-off in the Octagon at UFC 290. While it took some
time for their grudge match to materialize, the stakes remain high
heading into the bout.
“You have one of these situations where, both guys, everything is
on the line, especially because they dislike each other so much,”
UFC CEO Dana White said at the post-fight press conference for the
Contender Series on Tuesday night. “And if [Du Plessus] can beat
Izzy and bring that belt back to South Africa, obviously we’ll do
an event there. And if Izzy can retain and win the title, it’s huge
for him and his legacy — not retain, but regain.”
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White has teased bringing a UFC event to the continent in the past
when the promotion boasted three champions with African roots:
Adesanya, Francis
Ngannou and Kamaru
Usman. Du Plessis, meanwhile, has generated plenty of
controversy with his past remarks about being the “real African” in
the UFC. That remains a primary
source of animosity between the reigning champion and Adesanya.
White, for one, believes the bout will live up to the hype.
“Every time guys hate each other like this, the fight usually ends
up sucking, but I have a really good feeling this one won’t,” White
said. “You’re talking about, if you’re looking at what >Israel
Adesanya has achieved in his life, not just here but in kickboxing
too, and Dricus, he brings it, man. He comes.”