Dricus Du Plessis is the new UFC middleweight champion, and South Africa was waiting for his return with open arms.
Du Plessis challenged Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 297. The action was held inside the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Five rounds of action were fought between the two in their exciting title fight. The score totals were read and two of the judges at Octagon side scored the fight in favor of DDP, and he is now the 185-pound ruler.
Du Plessis has returned home to South Africa, and there he received a loud ovation.
Dricus Du Plessis Returns to South Africa As UFC Champion
The official X account of UFC Europe uploaded a video of Du Plessis arriving at the airport in South Africa and being greeted by his fellow countrymen. It was quite clear that the fans in attendance were happy to see their newly-minted champion return home.
A Champ's welcome home! 🇿🇦🏆@DricusduPlessis arrives back in South Africa with the belt! pic.twitter.com/RJ5em5cDgj
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) January 25, 2024
With his title victory over Strickland, Du Plessis looks to rest up a bit and then he has a massive championship fight in mind. During his post-fight interview, DDP called for a showdown with Israel Adesanya, who is currently on hiatus. Adesanya did respond to the callout by giving a thumbs up on Instagram Stories.
UFC 300 certainly seems like an appealing destination for Du Plessis vs. Adesanya. After all, the historic show doesn’t have a main event at this time. Ariel Helwani recently reported that he’s been told it doesn’t appear Adesanya will be ready for UFC 300. With that said, Helwani did not rule out the possibility of Izzy being offered something enticing enough to take the fight.
What the future holds for Dricus Du Plessis will be interesting to follow. You can keep it locked here on Middle Easy as we’ll provide you the latest updates on what’s next for DDP.
