Report – Dricus Du Plessis vs. Brad Tavares slated for UFC 276 on July 2.

Dricus Du Plessis
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari – Zuffa LLC

A middleweight matchup between South African-born finisher, Dricus Du Plessis, and promotional veteran, Brad Tavares has been booked to feature at UFC 276 on July 2. – from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Du Plessis, undefeated in his two-fight promotional stint, most recently featured at UFC 264 last July – stopping Trevin Giles with a second round knockout.

For Tavares, the Hawaii native is currently in the midst of a two-fight winning run – most recently landing a split decision success opposite Omari Akhmedov, on the same card as Du Plessis’ victory against Giles. MMA Fighting reporter, Mike Heck was first to report the bout between Du Plessis and Tavares.

16-2 as a professional, Du Plessis, a former EFC middleweight champion, debuted in the UFC back in October 2020 on ‘Fight Island’ – stopping Markus Perez with a first round barrage. 

The victory came as Du Plessis’ sixth via knockout – before his seventh professionally against Giles. 

The South Africa finisher also is the owner of nine submission victories, and notably, stopped current KSW middleweight and welterweight champion, Roberto Soldic with a 2018 second round knockout at KSW 43. 

Du Plessis was recently scheduled to fight against Julian Marquez at UFC 273 earlier this month, however, instead was drafted in to fight one-time interim middleweight title challenger, Kelvin Gastelum – before the latter was forced to withdraw, leaving Du Plessis opponent-less. 

19-6 as a professional, Tavares, before his win against Akhmedov, bested PFL tournament victor, Antonio Carlos Junior with a unanimous decision win – snapping a two-fight losing skid.

Tavares, 34, has featured under the UFC’s banner since June 2010 – landing a 14-6 record from 20 promotional walks.

During his organizational tenure, Tavares has managed to secure wins over Phil Baroni, Tom Watson, Lorenz Larkin, Nate Marquardt, Elias Theodorou, Thales Leites, and Krzysztof Jotko.