EFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has earned himself a huge opportunity after being signed to international promotion UFC.
Du Plessis has been added to the main card of the 11 October Fight Island event where he is set to take on Brazil’s Marcus Perez.
Dricus du Plessis signs to UFC
The South African fighter joins Dana White’s UFC with a 14-2-0 record, the man he faces has a similar professional record with 12 wins from 15 fights. Perez has the edge on UFC experience but du Plessis has a lot of momentum from back to back wins in South African based promotion EFC.
Du Plessis follows in the footsteps of the likes of Garreth ‘Soldierboy’ McLellan in joining the UFC. McLellan being the man who handed Du Plessis his first professional loss, choking him out at EFC 33.
‘Stillknocks’ has competed abroad before having fought three times in Polish promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). He headlined KSW: 43 beating Croatian fighter Roberto Soldić thanks to a second round stoppage. Soldić would get his revenge a few months later when he became the first man to KO Du Plessis.
Du Plessis has won his last two fights across promotions, beating Joilton Santos by stoppage in September 2019 in London before returning to South Africa and choking out Brendan Lesar to win the EFC middleweight title.
In addition to being a two-time Middleweight and former Welterweight EFC Champion, he is also a former KSW Welterweight Champion.
Du Plessis has secured his release from a contract with KSW in order to make the dream move to the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
Fight Island 179
Du Plessis will face Perez at middleweight in what is a very intriguing bout between two men who like to wrap things up early. Three-quarters of Perez’ career wins have come by finish while none of Du Plessis’ fights have gone the distance. The 26-year-old South African is capable of winning by submission or knockout and could do some serious damage in UFC.
UFC Fight Night 179 on 10 October will be held on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The event will be headlined by a bantamweight bout between Marlon Moraes and Cory Sandhagen.
The order of the card is yet to be determined, although main card matchups will likely include a heavyweight tilt of Ben Rothwell taking on Marcin Tybura, with Edson Barboza reported to be set to face Makwan Amirkhani at featherweight.
