Julian Kiewietz
Cape Town Stadium could host the inaugural UFC Africa event. At the same time, the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) could be the back-up option, should the world’s greatest mixed martial arts show make its way to the Mother City.
In an exclusive interview with Independent Newspapers and MzansiMMA, executive mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis stated that plans are afoot to try to get the Ultimate Fighting Championship to Cape Town, after South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis successfully defended his UFC middleweight title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, last month.
In the build-up to Du Plessis’ fight with the Nigerian-born Adesanya, UFC president Dana White confirmed, “If Dricus beats Izzy and brings that belt back to South Africa, we will do an event there.”
Following Du Plessis’ fourth-round rear-naked choke victory, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie said, “We have silently worked on it and we are very close to an official announcement.
“We have some things to do and fix, but the fight is happening in SA.”
While negotiations are under way behind the scenes, the City of Cape Town is doing what it can to best prepare itself as a top contender for hosting rights for the event.
“I am in regular contact with the minister (McKenzie),” said mayor Hill-Lewis. “We are already some way down the road (in discussions for a potential venue for UFC Cape Town).
“Our City engineering teams have been working hard on an option for a temporary roof over DHL Stadium (Cape Town Stadium). Our second option would be to squeeze as many people as possible into the CTICC.”
It is no secret that White is not a fan of open-top arenas. Since its inception in 1993, the UFC has regularly attracted thousands of fans to live shows, hosting between 10 000 and 50 000 fight fans in roofed arenas.
While South Africa enjoys a handful of beautiful stadiums capable of hosting between 40 000 and 90 000 fans, the nation does not currently have a large-scale closed-top arena that can host more than 15 000 people.
However, with Hill-Lewis confirming a potential temporary structure over Cape Town Stadium – with a current capacity of 55 000 – it should play into the hands of the UFC’s plans of hosting a historic show in the Mother City. A few issues to consider, though, would be the awkward time the show will probably be hosted, ticket prices, and the cost of this temporary structure.
The UFC always caters first to the US market, and an early Sunday morning UFC Africa event is therefore more than likely to be on the cards. At the recent UFC 305, Du Plessis and Adesanya’s main event commenced at roughly 6am in Mzansi.
Before that, there was a major uproar from European MMA fans after UFC 304, where the main card kicked off at 3am local time in Manchester, England. Another factor to consider is the ticket prices. UFC 305’s tickets were running roughly from R3 500 up to R50 000.
In the build-up to UFC 305, Hill-Lewis shared his excitement about getting the UFC to South Africa and urged White on social media to bring the show to Cape Town. Yesterday, Hill-Lewis again highlighted those sentiments.
“MMA is a massive global sport with huge public support, and it would be wonderful to have Dricus fighting in Cape Town.
“I saw Dricus at the rugby this weekend (between the Springboks and All Blacks). I’ve spoken to him about it. We have also reached out to his management.
“We are hopeful of staging a blockbuster match with Dricus, but negotiations are at an early stage,” concluded Hill-Lewis.