Dricus du Plessis made history as the first South African-born UFC champion at the Scotiabank Arena this past weekend. Here is a list of the other UFC champions representing continents in the world.
‘IT’S AN HONOUR’: DRICIUS DU PLESSIS THANKS SOUTH AFRICAN FOR SUPPORT
Dricus Du Plessis edged Sean Strickland 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 and became the new UFC middleweight champion, MMA Fighting reported.
“History has been made🇿🇦. This is Africa! We fear nothing and certainly no one!! Thank you, South Africa, It’s an honour representing our beautiful nation,” du Plessis wrote on Instagram upon his historic victory.
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WILL THE SOUTH AFRICAN-BORN UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION RECEIVE A HERO’S WELCOME?
Dricus du Plessis announced that he will be arriving in South Africa on Thursday, 25 January as seen on his Instagram feed. The South African also confirmed that he is already on his way back to South African from Toronto, Canada. It was reported that he was set to arrive at OR Tambo International around 07:30.
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WHO ARE THE UFC CHAMPIONS REPRESENTING OTHER CONTINENTS?
According to a post by ESPN MMA, Sean O’Malley, Raquel Pennington, Jon Jones, and Alexa Grasso represent North America. And, Tom Aspinall, Islam Machachev, and Leon Edwards represent Europe.
Alex Pareira and Alexandre Pantoja represent South America. Whereas South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis is one of the few UFC champions who stand alone as representatives of their continents. Like him, Zhang Weilli is the only UFC champ who represents her continent, Asia. And Alexander Volkanovski from Australia is said to represent Oceania.
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