Dricus du Plessis knows how big the fight on Saturday night is going to be for him as he takes on Israel Adesanya in hostile territory with his belt on the line. This is a tough matchup for the South African native and he knows it. However, he believes he is going into this fight with a lot at stake, so much so that he compared it to his debut fight.
The champ is not taking this fight lightly and will not want to lose his belt. There is a lot of bad blood between du Plessis and Adesanya with the pair constantly talking trash and berating each other.
In a recent interview while on air on Fox, the champ spoke about how much passion and emotion he has going into this fight,
“The amount of passion and emotion going into this fight with is exactly the same as I went into my debut with. This fight is as important as that fight”
There’s a lot riding on this fight for du Plessis. This is his first title defense and afterall, he’s the one who made it personal with a legend of a champion.
He will know that Adesanya won’t be feeling as much pressure since he is the challenger.
‘The Last Stylebender’ has had a lot of rest and is more dangerous than ever. So, for the champ to come out of this with the belt in his hand will take something special.
There’s even more at stake for the South African than there is for the challenger since he may have the chance to make history.
UFC event in South Africa if DDP beats Izzy
The stakes just got much higher for the champ after Dana White’s press conference at for the DW Contender Series. The UFC president spoke about the possibility of an event in South Africa next if du Plessis can defend his title against Israel Adesanya,
“If he can beat Izzy and bring that belt to South Africa, obviously we’ll do an event there.”
Dana White confirms that if Dricus du Plessis was to defend his title at UFC 305, than the UFC would hold an event in South Africa
pic.twitter.com/eAvqkFvoC9— Sidney (@NoRageSidney) August 14, 2024
Mind you, there were 3 African champions in the UFC; ‘3 African Kings’, namely Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou were some of the biggest names in the sport. Unfortunately, during their time at the helm, the UFC did host an event in the continent.
Regardless, a SA event right now would do wonders for the sport in the country and encourage kids to take up the sport.
