Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight World Champion Dricus du Plessis will pocket a cool R9,7-million for his exploits after he defended his title against Nigeria’s Israel Adesanya this past weekend.
Du Plessis will get a guaranteed $500,000 (R9-million) purse and an extra $42,000 (R750, 000) from his sponsorships.
He will add this amount to the wholesome $1-million (R18-million) he raked in when he won the belt in January. This was against Sean Strickland in Canada.
Made SA UFC history
Du Plessis made history in January when he became the first SA UFC to win a world championship. He had boxed his way to a big pay cheque, estimated to be in the region of $1-million (R18-million). The South African earned $350,000 (R6,3-million) as base salary along with $32,000 (R576,000) in incentive pay. He added another $350,000 as a win bonus. This will have brought his purse from the night close to $800,000 (R14,4-million). Money from sponsorship further inflated the amount to around $1-million.
On Saturday, Du Plessis was flanked by Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and man-mountain Eben Etzebeth. They accompanied him as he walked into the ring, with the SA national anthem beaming loud on the speakers. Bryan Habana too, was in attendance. The Boks were in Australia for their United Rugby Championship against the Wallabies.
The rugby match was played on Saturday morning. Kolisi was given a rest and did not play in the URC test match, while Etzebeth started on the bench. The Springboks completed a two-match walloping of the Wallabies in front of their own home crowd.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, Du Plessis reminded the media of the power of sport.
Sport unifies nation
“Sport brings people together,” said the 30-year-old Du Plessis.
“Our great father, Nelson Mandela, that was his biggest thing. He said, ‘sport unites people in a way that politics can never do’. And that is a fact. So what we saw in the octagon after the fight, to be able to show that while on a personal level there is no friendship, the respect is there.
“The respect I have for what he has done in the sport can’t be denied. If you can’t see what Israel has done in the sport and appreciate that as a warrior, you’re an idiot. The man has done great things,” he added.
