Dricus du Plessis finally gets his shot at biggest prize in MMA

The stars seem to have finally aligned for South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis.

The best mixed martial arts fighter the country has ever produced will get his shot at the biggest prize in the sport after it was announced on Tuesday that he will fight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title early next year.

It was just a few months ago that it looked as if Du Plessis’ shot at gold had slipped away from him when he turned down an opportunity to fight then-champion Israel Adesanya due to a foot injury.

The fight would have had everything to be a classic, with Du Plessis claiming to be the only African fighter in the UFC.

Now for Adesanya – who was born in Nigeria, but spent most his life in China, in New Zealand and in the United States – this did not sit well and a feud-filled with bad blood developed.

Strickland shocks Adesanya

Unfortunately, this fight did not transpire as American brawler Sean Strickland stepped in at UFC293 and shocked the world by beating Adesanya.

This result seemed to have left Du Plessis in the wilderness with UFC president Dana White lining up other challengers to fight for the title.

Khamzat Chimaev, an exciting young Russian, was next in line for a title shot, but a less-than-impressive showing in his last outing has brought Du Plessis back into the conversation.

The South African, who is never short of a few words, jumped onto social media and it seems the UFC took note.

“The Khamzat that fought at UFC294 loses to Sean Strickland every day of the week,” said Du Plessis on Instagram.

Here’s hoping that the title fight against Strickland is just a stepping stone to the fight that everyone still wants to see — between Du Plessis and Adesanya.

Only this time the gold will be around the waste of a “true African”.

The fight will take place on January 20 in Toronto.