Video: South Africa Rugby Fires Up Dricus Du Plessis for UFC 297 Title Fight

Originally posted on FanNation MMA Knockout | Last updated 1/17/24

A proud South African, Dricus Du Plessis will head into his UFC 297 title bout against Sean Strickland with the support of his nation's world champion rugby team behind him.

A former EFC and KSW champion, Du Plessis will try to make history and become the first South African to hold a UFC title when he challenges Strickland for the middleweight belt in the main event of UFC 297 in Toronto.

“Stillknocks” has shown nothing but confidence as he heads into the biggest fight of his career, and the 30-year-old has received a huge show of support from South Africa’s national rugby team ahead of the matchup.

The Springboks are coming off a Rugby World Cup campaign in France where they became the first nation to win the tournament four times. The video for Du Plessis includes messages of support in English and Afrikaans from a few of the team's stars before longtime captain Siya Kolisi delivered some final words of encouragement in Xhosa.

Du Plessis is unbeaten since he joined the UFC in 2020 and is coming off a massive victory over former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, while Strickland also scored a major upset in his last outing at UFC 293 to claim the middleweight title from Israel Adesanya.

Both middleweights have exchanged some heated words in the lead up to their title fight, and provided Strickland isn’t provoked into attacking Du Plessis during fight week the two men will finally settle things in the Octagon on Saturday night.

This article first appeared on FanNation MMA Knockout and was syndicated with permission.

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