Former KSW welterweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (14-2) is headed to the UFC.
The South African fighter has long been on the radar, especially after winning the KSW title in 2018 against Roberto Soldic. While Soldic would go on to reclaim the belt in an immediate rematch, Du Plessis in turn went on to win both his bouts in 2019, capturing the EFC middleweight championship in the process. De Plessis is also a former EFC welterweight champ as well.
Du Plessis was part of our 10 Middleweights the UFC Should Sign in 2020 feature to start the year. He popped up again in our mid-year look at Prospects the UFC Should Sign by the End of 2020.
Combate was first to report news of Du Plessis’ signing. His debut will come on Fight Island on October 10, where he will take on Markus Perez. Perez was originally expected to face Rodolfo Vieira, who dropped out of the bout due to injury.
Perez (12-3) last fought in November of last year, losing a unanimous decision against Wellington Turman. The 30-year old Brazilian has been trading wins and losses since joining the UFC, and is 2-3 overall inside the octagon.
The fight is expected to take place at 185lbs. The UFC’s October 10 card currently features the following bouts:
Marlon Moraes vs. Cory Sandhagen
Ben Rothwell vs. Marcin Tybura
Sergey Spivak vs. Tom Aspinall
Youssef Zalal vs. Seung Woo Choi
Alejandro Pérez vs. Thomas Almeida
Tracy Cortez vs. Bea Malecki
Abu Azaitar vs. Joaquin Buckley
Rodrigo Nascimento vs. Chris Daukaus
Ali Alqaisi vs. Tony Kelley
Omar Morales vs. Giga Chikadze
Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva
Markus Perez vs. Dricus du Plessis
