According to South African UFC fighter, Dricus du Plessis, although former champions Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman are both Nigerian-born, they are not true Africans.
The world of Mixed Martial Arts has seen a rise in African talent in recent years and fighters from the continent have achieved great success in the sport. However, for du Plessis, no true African fighter has won the middleweight belt.
Adesanya, the former middleweight champion, was born in Nigeria but moved to New Zealand in early childhood. Usman, the former welterweight champion, was also born in Nigeria but is an American now and du Plessis made some interesting comments about this.
In a recent conference, Dricus du Plessis, a rising star in the UFC, promised to become the first African fighter to take a UFC belt to his homeland. “Did this belt ever go to Africa? As far as I know, it came to America and New Zealand,” he said.
He even claimed that he will be the guy to take the middleweight belt to Africa. He pointed out that he and Cameron Saaiman who is also South African are the only true Africans in the UFC.
“Myself and Cameron, we breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day, we train in Africa. We are African born, we are African raised,” said du Plessis.
Du Plessis, who hails from Ermelo, South Africa, has a record of 18 wins and 2 losses in his MMA career. He is a well-rounded fighter with excellent striking and grappling skills, and he has proven himself in various MMA promotions before signing with the UFC.
The 29-year-old is going to face Derek Brunson on March 5 at UFC 285. Brunson is a seasoned veteran of the sport, with notable wins over fighters like Kevin Holland and Edmen Shahbazyan.
