Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa is introduced before facing Darren Till of England in a middleweight fight during the UFC 282 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 10, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada Cape Town cannot be confirmed as the venue for the UFC middleweight title defence of Dricus du Plessis (pictured), just yet according to SA minister of Sport Gayton McKenzie. Picture: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images/AFP
Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has said it’s too early to conclude and confirm Cape Town as the host city for Dricus du Plessis’s UFC middleweight title defence, which is scheduled to take place in South Africa.
Before Du Plessis defended his title for the first time against Israel Adesanya in Perth last month, UFC boss Dana White said if the South African won his fight, his next title defence would be in his home country.
Since then, speculation has been rife about where in South Africa the popular fighting event would be held.
McKenzie posted on X on Wednesday: “I see news articles abt @UFC fight of @dricusduplessis happening in Cape Town, we are in final stages of negotiating that the fight happens in South Africa.
“We have not been given the green light. We will know by the end of October, no decision of hosting city can be made yet.”
🚨![CDATA[]]>💥#UFC305 DRICUS DU PLESSIS RESTE CHAMPION 🏆![CDATA[]]>🔥#dricusduplessis #ufc pic.twitter.com/5jH5MAZTOF
— Westfighting (@West_fighting) August 18, 2024
Cape Town’s DHL Stadium and the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) have been touted as the frontrunner venues to host the fight.
The Cape Argus ran a front page story saying the City of Cape Town could spend a minimum R30 million to erect a temporary roof at the DHL Stadium.
Before his Wednesday statement, the Patriotic Alliance leader McKenzie had said: “We have silently worked on it and we are very close to an official announcement. We have some things to do and fix, but the fight is happening in SA.”
Last week, in an exclusive interview with Independent Newspapers and MzansiMMA, executive mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis said: “I am in regular contact with the minister [McKenzie].
“We are already some way down the road [in discussions for a potential venue for UFC Cape Town].
“Our City engineering teams have been working hard on an option for a temporary roof over DHL Stadium [Cape Town Stadium]. Our second option would be to squeeze as many people as possible into the CTICC.”