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Update: 22 January 2024
“Suid Afrika, nou weet hulle wat ons weet” (“South Africa, now they know what we know”) a very bruised and battered Dricus Du Plessis shouted emphatically after his split-decision win against Sean Strickland in Canada on Satuday evening. Du Plessis is now the first South African ever to be crowned the middleweight champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). This makes it 7 wins from 7 UFC fights for the patriotic Du Plessis – signalling an onward and upwards trajectory for the UFC middleweight title holder.
19 January 2024
It has been a most talked-about topic over the last few weeks – the UFC middleweight title fight between South African Dricus Du Plessis and the current champion, 32-year-old American Sean Strickland. The fight will take place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, on Saturday night, the 20th of January. (05:00 on Sunday 21 January in South Africa).
This will be the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) matchup of 2024, and it is certainly going to be a big one.
In September 2023, Strickland beat Israel Adesanya and won the title at UFC 293.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Du Plessis is undefeated in the UFC since he made his debut in the octagon in 2020.
30-year-old Dricus’ mantra has been “Hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie” (They don’t know what we know) – as he has come into all six of his previous UFC fights as the underdog and successfully emerged as the winner. He recently mentioned: “I’m here to be the middleweight champion of the world.” He coined this phrase after he shockingly beat Australia’s Robert Whittaker in a second-round knockout in July 2023. This is how Du Plessis earned his shot at the UFC middleweight title. Strickland declared: “My job is to fight you for five rounds and try to put you away and that’s all it is.”
Dricus Du Plessis has also garnered a lot of support from the Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok team. He served as the flag-bearer for the Springboks’ Rugby Championship match against New Zealand’s All Blacks at Ellis Park on 13 August 2022. Springbok Ox Nche wrote on social media: “Please don’t miss the chance to catch [Du Plessis] out as he aims for UFC glory. All the best, Dricus. We are all behind you.”
The fight will be broadcast on Supersport in three different languages (English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa) at 05:00 on Sunday morning (21 January 2024), South African time.
Why does this matter? If Dricus Du Plessis wins on Saturday night in Canada, it will be the first time a South African fighter has ever won a UFC championship.
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