Dricus du Plessis has one special message for South Africa

The day has nearly arrived for Dricus du Plessis to go into battle for the middleweight title in the UFC 297 main event, which is scheduled for the Scotiabank Arena in Ontario, Canada on Sunday morning (SA time).

The main bouts will take place from 5am onwards, with Du Plessis and Strickland expected to go head to head closer to 7am, with the South African superstar hoping to make history by bringing the title belt back to Mzansi.

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Although South Africans will have to wake up early for the fight, Du Plessis had a special message to share in an exclusive interview.

“South Africa, I know it’s a little early, but crack a beer, get the braai going, it’s going to be electric! I just can’t wait to see the whole country buzzing when we get my hand raised after winning the title. I can’t wait to see the videos of all the watch parties, this is going to be a World Cup 2.0”

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old said he also hoped that a victory for him this weekend could inspire the UFC to bring an event to South Africa after seeing all the support and interest that has come out of the country.

“I only have one dream, the rest is work that I’ve already done for this. I don’t want to be given anything, I’ll take it. But there is one wish after hearing Dana White talking at a press conference about possibly bringing a UFC event to South Africa … that would be the dream…. It’s not totally in my control, but being a champion and getting an entire country hyped up for the UFC would go a long way.”

WATCH: Springboks rally around Dricus du Plessis

DRICUS DU PLESSIS STATS AND FACTS

• Du Plessis (20-2), meanwhile, is unbeaten in the UFC since his series debut in October 2020
• He has racked up six successive UFC wins to become the top contender in the division
• Du Plessis earned his shot at the UFC middleweight title by defeating Australian Robert Whittaker in a second-round TKO in July
• Du Plessis is aiming to become the first South African mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter to hold a title belt at the prestigious UFC level.
• The 29-year-old from Pretoria is on an eight-fight winning streak, with the two other victories outside the UFC having been achieved at EFC Africa in Pretoria and KSW 50 in London
• Du Plessis goes by the nickname ‘Stillknocks.’ The nickname stems from the drug Stilnox, which is another name for the sleeping pill commonly known as Ambien in the United States.
• The middleweight championship will not be the only title on the line at UFC 297, with Raquel Pennington (15-8) and Mayra Bueno Silva (10-2-1, 1 NC) battling it out for the vacant women’s bantamweight belt.

ALSO READ: Stats, facts, fight time for Dricus du Plessis UFC title bout

WHAT TIME WILL THE BOUT TAKE PLACE?

The fight will headline the card on Saturday, 20 January, with the clash set to get under way around 10pm at the venue. However, due to the seven hour time difference between Canada and South Africa, viewers in Mzansi will only watch the bout after 5am on Sunday, 21 January.

The bout will be available to DStv Compact and Access customers in South Africa on SuperSport Variety 4, channel 209 and all higher DStv subscription packages.

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UFC 297 – 21 January

03:00 to 05:00 – Prelims

05:00 to 09:00 – Main Bouts

Channel

SuperSport Variety 4 (209)

UFC 297 – MAIN CARD

– Main event: Middleweight championship: Sean Strickland v Dricus du Plessis

– Co-main: Women’s bantamweight championship: Raquel Pennington v Mayra Bueno Silva

– Welterweight: Neil Magny v Mike Malott

– Middleweight: Chris Curtis v Marc-Andre Barriault

– Featherweight: Arnold Allen v Movsar Evloev

ALSO READ: Dricus du Plessis promises to keep the judges out of proceedings in Toronto