UFC owner Dana White told journalists that Dricus du Plessis will defend his belt against Sean Strickland.
White confirmed the rematch on the latest episode of Contender Series; when asked who the South African would fight next, he said, “Yes, [Strickland is still next]”.
Du Plessis, or Stillknocks, is 1-0 against Strickland after enduring a hard-fought battle that went all five rounds.
The American was defending his belt after causing one of the biggest upsets in UFC history by beating former champion Israel Adesanya.
This time, the South African will put his championship status on the line.
Dissecting Sean Strickland
A 33-year-old hailing from California, Strickland, also named Tarzan, has fought in multiple divisions, including middleweight, welterweight and light heavyweight.
He’s been a professional fighter since 2008, with an impressive record of 29-6-0, including eleven wins by knockout.
Outside of the octagon, Tarzan is known for his outlandish comments – only yesterday, he accused fellow middleweight fighter Khamzat Chimaev of selling his soul to a terrorist dictator.
That doesn’t sound good – for either fighters.
Dricus du Plessis vs Sean Strickland
When it comes to their physical attributes, there’s hardly a difference.
Both stand at 6’1″, weigh 84kg, and even share an identical reach of 76″.
But, how they approach the octogen contradicts each other.
Du Plessis is an orthodox stance kickboxer who accumulated a 33-0 record before joining the UFC in 2013—thirty of which were won by knockout.
In the other corner is a switch-footed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter who has been active in the UFC since for five more years.
Stillknocks is aged 30 while Tarzan is 33.
Is the fight happening in South Africa?
There’s much speculation as to where the fight will take place after White promised du Plessis that if he defended his belt against Israel Adesanya in August, his next championship fight will be on home soil.
Du Plessis did exactly that; however, fighting in front of a home crowd is looking increasingly unlikely.
When asked whether South Africa would host the pay-per-view event, White told journalists,
“You know how bad I want this. I’ve been trying to get this done. The arena situation there is tough. That’s been the challenge with Africa as a whole. The place where we’d have to do it at, is outdoors, and you know how I feel about that,
“I’ve heard that wind is a problem, and anything that could affect the outcome of a fight makes me not want to try.”
Optimistically, Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie is adamant that it can happen.
“We have silently worked on it, and we are very close to an official announcement. We have some things to do and fix, but the fight is happening in SA”, he wrote on X.
While South Africa has an abundance of world-class stadiums, none of them fit the closed-roof requirements, meaning time will tell whether it happens or not.
Do you think Dricus du Plessis will win?
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