Dana White Discusses UFC Africa Obstacles: Wind, Rain, and Bugs Could Affect the Fights

Dana White desperately wants to take the UFC to South Africa. Unfortunately, the amount of obstacles seems almost insurmountable.

Following Dricus Du Plessis’ win over Israel Adesanya in August, White made it clear that he wants to bring his show to the middleweight champion’s home country. Since then, rumors have been swirling that an event in either Johannesburg or Cape Town could be part of the promotion’s 2025 schedule.

However, White revealed following Tuesday’s episode of DWCS that they’re having a difficult time locking down a venue.

“You know how bad I want this, I’ve been trying to get this thing done. The arena situation there is tough, it’s tough to pull off,” White said. “That’s been the challenge with Africa as a whole. We’re trying to figure it out. The place that we would have to do it at, is outdoors, and you know how I feel about that. So I’ve been trying to figure out with the weather…. wind is a big problem. We’ve done it a couple of times, but anything that can affect the outcome of the fight, makes me not even want to try…

“It’s anything from wind, rain, bugs, too much humidity. A lot of things can interfere with the fight” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Dricus Du Plessis is the uFC’s only African World Champion

Even before Du Plessis’ rise to the top of the 185-pound division, White had expressed interest in going to Africa with the promotion and then hosting a trio of African world champions — Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou.

Currently, ‘DDP’ is the promotion’s lone titleholder hailing from Africa, but it sounds like he won’t be competing on his home turf anytime soon.