A highly intriguing middleweight matchup between number 12 ranked UFC middleweight Brad Tavares and rising middleweight prospect Dricus Du Plessis has been added to UFC 276 on July 2. The news was first reported by Mike Heck of MMAFighting.com on Tuesday afternoon.
Tavares, 34, is from Kailua Hawaii, and has a professional record of 19 wins and 6 losses. He was on the Ultimate Fighter Season 11 before losing in the semifinals to Court McGee. Tavares has been with the UFC since 2011 and is 13-6 under the promotion. He has been in the Octagon with the likes of current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, and former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero. He is currently on a 2 fight winning streak and is coming off of a split decision win over Omari Akhmedov at UFC 264 on July 2, 2021.
Du Plessis, 28, is from Hartfield, South Africa, and has a professional record of 16 wins and 2 losses. He is 2-0 in the UFC with both wins coming by way of knockout. He was originally supposed to fight at UFC 273 on April 9 against Chris Curtis, but Curtis was forced to pull out of the fight, due to an injury. He was then supposed to fight Anthony Hernandez at that event, but the UFC booked Hernandez against UFC newcomer Josh Fremd for that same date. Following that, Du Plessis accepted a fight against Kelvin Gastelum for UFC 273, but shortly thereafter, Gastelum was forced to pull out due to an injury.
With this addition, the UFC 276 lineup on July 2nd now includes:
- Brad Tavares vs Dricus Du Plessis – middleweight Bout.
- Lauren Murphy vs Miesha Tate– women’s flyweight Bout
- Jessica Eye vs Casey O’Neill – women’s flyweight Bout
This event is scheduled to take place on July 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of International Fight Week.
