Thanks to Dricus du Plessis, the next big UFC event could be held in Cape Town next year.
The City of Cape Town plans to add a R30 million temporary roof to DHL Stadium with the aim of hosting an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event and other big events to stimulate the local economy.
The plan comes after Cape Town's proposal to host South African UFC champ Dricus’ next match, which requires an indoor venue.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) could be the backup option should the world’s greatest mixed martial arts event make its way to the metro.
Speaking to Cape Talk, Hill-Lewis said, “We are already somewhere down the road when it becomes a possibility that we could pitch for a Dricus fight; we started immediately working on that because we know that this is a non-negotiable requirement of the UFC to an indoor venue.
“So our engineering teams have already come up with four options, actually, all of which work, but at different costs and have different pros and cons and have different capacities inside the stadium and so on. All of them would be temporary roofs and not permanent.”
Hill-Lewis said they would need about two months to erect the roof. It is envisioned the building would start in March next year.
He said Cape Town’s proposal to host the event will be discussed with UFC officials at a meeting in Abu Dhabi later this month.
Hill-Lewis adds that there is also an option to host the UFC fight at the CTICC, which can seat up to 15,000 people.
Mouille Point Ratepayers' Association spokesperson, Jane Meyer, said the CTICC, or even the Good Hope Centre, could easily host a UFC/MMA event, without disrupting the lives of residents.
sibuliso.duba@inl.co.za