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WATCH: Boks rally behind UFC star Dricus du Plessis as history beckons

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History is beckoning for South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis who will look to claim gold in this weekend’s upcoming UFC, which will make him the first South African mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter to hold a title belt at the prestigious UFC level.

 

Du Plessis is facing rival Sean Strickland for the middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 297 in Ontario, Canada, on Sunday morning.

 

While Strickland caused a major upset when he defeated Israel Adesanya in September last year to claim the middleweight strap, Du Plessis is unbeaten in the UFC since his series debut in October 2020.

 

The 29 year old from Pretoria has racked up six successive wins to become the top contender in the division.

 

Du Plessis and Strickland have controversially already come to blows, on the sidelines of UFC 296 in Las Vegas last month.

 

‘Stillknocks’, as Du Plessis is often referred to, believes the fact that he triggered Strickland plays into his advantage.

 

“I can’t believe how easy it was to mentally trigger him. I thought Sean Strickland, he’s just bashing everybody around, about everything on everybody, and one little sentence and the man loses his mind. Shows you how easily mentally he’ll be broken.”

 

Meanwhile, South African fans and celebrities have wished Du Plessis all the best, with the Springboks also coming to the fore to wish him luck:

 

 

 

 

 

How to watch:

 

SuperSport is gearing up for this historic moment and for the first time will have commentary in three South African languages, English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa.

 

The fight will be available to DStv Compact and Access customers in South Africa on SuperSport Variety 4, channel 209.

 

UFC 297 – 21 January:

  • 03:00 to 05:00 – Prelims
  • 05:00 to 09:00 – Main Bouts

 

Liesl Smit
Liesl Smit
Liesl is the Smile 90.4FM News Manager. She has been at Smile since 2016, with nearly 20 years experience in the radio industry, including reading news, field reporting and producing. In 2008 she won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award, Western Cape region. liesl@smile904.fm

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