All roads lead to Western Australia as Bok-backed Dricus du Plessis aims to defend his title

This is a vitally important weekend from a sporting perspective for South Africa in Western Australia.

First a much-changed Springboks side take on the Wallabies at Optus Stadium in Perth in their Rugby Championship clash, before UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis will aim to successfully defend his title for the first time against Israel Adesanya.

UFC 305 is being hosted at the RAC Arena in Perth a few hours later as the Springboks will look to support their compatriot.

Du Plessis has said that both Springbok captain Siya Kolisi – who is not part of the squad to tackle the Aussies this weekend – as well as enforcer lock Eben Etzebeth, who will make a rare appearance from the bench, will walk out alongside him.

“We’re busy with that, getting Eben and Siya to walk out with us,” Du Plessis said on KFM radio station this week. “It looks like it’s basically going to be a done deal. We are going to have them walk out with me.

“They won’t be sitting in the corner, but they will be walking with me to the octagon, which is pretty special.

“The Boks are playing, they are the pride of South Africa, and then I’m fighting, all on the same weekend. Talk about stars aligning,” Du Plessis added.

The venues for the two battles on Australian soil are less than 7km away from each other.

A winning streak

Du Plessis grew up playing rugby and has been a big admirer of the national rugby team. He was flag bearer when the Springboks played the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship at Ellis Park in 2022.

The Boks’ first match on home soil – after the Rugby World Cup triumph last year – when they took on Ireland at Loftus Versfeld also saw Du Plessis present his middleweight belt to the sold out crowd pre-match.

“Once I put that South African flag around my shoulders, there is nothing in the world that can stop me,” Du Plessis said. “(Adesanya) can knock me down, but he won’t knock me out and he won’t keep me down.”

Du Plessis is undefeated since first stepping into the UFC octagon in 2020. In four years the 30-year-old quickly climbed up the middleweight division, promising to wear the division belt from the first time a UFC mic was put in front of him — a promise he kept.

At the time, Adesanya reigned supreme in the division that many believed to be top-heavy, with not many new and exciting fighters coming through.

Israel Adesanya (right) of Nigeria punches Alex Pereira of Brazil in a middleweight title bout during UFC 287 at Kaseya Center on 8 April, 2023, in Miami, Florida. (Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)