Is Africa the New Outpost for Blossoming UFC Star Fighters?

On the night of Saturday, January 20, mixed martial artist Dricus Du Plessis, aka Stillknocks, became the first South African to win an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title. Six months after defeating Robert Whittaker via technical knockout, Plessis emerged as the top contender in the Middleweight division, winning the title on his first shot at previous holder Sean Stricklandby split decision.

This monumental win continues an ongoing wave of dominant feats in the UFC by African-born fighters, especially over the past five years. Cameroonian fighter Francis Ngannou was the last African to emerge as a new champion, winning the Heavyweight division title in 2021 and successfully defending it in 2022 before exiting the UFC. Prior to that, Nigerian-born MMA fighters Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman emerged as champions in 2019, with the latter winning the Welterweight title and defending it five straight times until losing the belt in late 2021.

Months after Usman’s title win, Adesanya, aka Stylebender, won the Middleweight belt and defended his title for three-plus years, shortly losing it in late 2022 and regaining it from Alex Perreira the following year. Now, that belt is in South Africa with Du Plessis, after a brief stint with Strickland, who upset Adesanya last year. Of the quartet of champions, there’s a standout element that makes Du Plessis’ title win feel even more gilded: he was totally raised and trained in South Africa. Stillknocks is the only home-grown UFC champion of his colleagues.

Skimming through their histories, the remaining trio owe much of their rise to developing their skills away from Africa. Ngannou emigrated from Cameroon through backdoor channels, in hopes of becoming a professional boxer, before his coaches and rigorous training redirected him into mixed martial arts. Both Adesanya and Usman were born in Nigeria, but eventually relocated from the country. Adesanya moved to New Zealand at age 10 and went through fighting circuits in the Oceanian country, Australia and China, on the path to landing in the UFC. Usman’s parents moved the family to Texas, where he started off as a wrestler, up till the collegiate, then switched to MMA and entered the UFC after winning the reality and fighting competition show, The Ultimate Fighter.

Despite their paths, the shine of their stardom as UFC champions has effected a growth in the number of people who now follow the combat sport. “Izzy (Adesanya) and Usman were born in Nigeria but they both grew up outside the country and they didn’t have to claim their Nigerian heritage, but they did,” keen MMA follower Mayowa Balogun tells OkayAfrica in an interview. “For context, they were fighters before them, not as great or as dominant, they had Nigerian names but they were American fighters. We knew they were Nigerians because of their names but they didn’t claim Nigeria.”

Balogun, who also manages amateur fighters across boxing and other combat sports, states that multiple African fighters winning UFC titles within short periods of each other has heightened interest in MMA. However, he’s wary of deeming it long term fascination, especially in West Africa, largely due to the dearth of training infrastructure and lack of public interest on a parochial scale. “I feel like it’s a fad, and the reason is because what we need for people to be interested in watching the sport, from local level to the top level, isn’t there yet,” he says, citing recent attempts by the promotion company, African Knockout (AKO).

In November 2020, AKO launched its debut reality show, The African KnockOut Show, featuring 14 fighters training over 9 weeks. The nine episodes of the first season aired across satellite TV, on DSTV’s SuperSport and GoTV. While the viewership numbers weren’t publicly shared, the chatter around The AKO Show was minimal across social media. The reception from faithful followers like Balogun, who felt there was more focus on reality drama than actual MMA fighting, was tepid. The show is currently on Netflix, but it wasn’t renewed for a second season by Multichoice, owners of DSTV and GoTV.

AKO has since pivoted to high-budget, commercial fight events, the three-edition Face Off Fight Night and AKO Championship, which currently has two installments. The impact of these events has been mute, at best. “These are investments in promotions and I think that’s kind of the wrong way to go about it,” Balogun says. “First, what we need is more gyms, so a young person who has seen these champions can access facilities to train MMA.” For example, in 2019, during his ascent to popularity, Ngannou set up a gym in Batié, the town where he grew up, hoping to inspire young people who want to emulate his success.

While proper gyms and capable trainers are the base level of seeding MMA at a grassroots level, fight events and promotions scale the sport for audience participation and overall revenue. South Africa, where MMA has much deeper roots, is a thriving ground for more potential UFC champions to emerge. Training in judo from age 5, then wrestling at 17, and becoming a World Championship gold medal winner in Kickboxing, Du Plessis switched to mixed martial arts and began competing professionally in 2013. He became a Middleweight Champion in the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC), the largest and most consistent MMA fighting event in Africa.

Undoubtedly, South Africa has the most forward-facing MMA scene on the continent and more African fighters will see a path through the Rainbow Nation in order to achieve any lofty dreams. Former UFC fighter Dalcha Lungiambula represented Congo in judo until his switch to MMA in 2010, and he moved to Table View, on the west coast of Cape Town, where he became an EFC fighter, winning the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles before his UFC stint. Stillknocks’ recent win will only embolden more young fighters to try Lungaimbula’s route.

Perhaps, those who will embrace this inspiration the most are South Africans, Mayowa Balogun opines. In addition to the presence of well-equipped gyms and recognizable fighting events, that makes winning at the highest level tangible. “A lot of South Africans are going to go, ‘Hey, we have a South African who’s from here and became a champion training here, and I want to be like him.’”