Is Cape Town planning to put a R30 million roof over the DHL Stadium to host a UFC fight?

Speaking to CapeTalk, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis confirmed that the city plans to install a R30 million temporary roof at the DHL Cape Town Stadium to improve the stadium's functionality and visitor experience. Cape Town etc. reports.

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Because the stadium's open roof means it can only host matches in good weather, Mayor Hill-Lewis explained that the plan was a response to Cape Town's bid to host South African UFC champion Dricus du Plessis' next fight, which requires an enclosed arena.

The announcement of plans for a possible temporary roof follows du Plessis' victory in January 2024.

Ahead of the highly anticipated UFC 297 championship fight between then-middleweight champion Sean Strickland (USA) and du Plessis in January 2024, UFC President Dana White made an exciting announcement.

Cape Town etc. White had previously announced that the UFC had been considering expanding its presence in Africa for some time.

“If Dricus becomes world champion, it's a no-brainer. We're going to South Africa. Africa has been on my radar for a long time,” said White.

Following Du Plessis' historic victory as the first South African to win a UFC title, White shared even more exciting news with fans across the continent.

“Dricus could definitely be the right man to headline a UFC Africa event,” said White.

Mayor Hill-Lewis echoed this sentiment in his council speech in August when he alluded to the UFC event, saying the UFC president had promised to bring the fight to South Africa if Dricus du Plessis won his title fight.

“We will also campaign for Cape Town to host such a UFC event and I think we have every reason to believe that this is possible.”

“So we keep our fingers crossed that our champion’s next title defense will take place right here in the Mother City.”

The Hill-Lewis plans are in the works.

“We're already a bit further along… when the possibility arose that we could propose a fight against Dricus, we immediately started working on a plan because we know that a hall is a non-negotiable requirement of the UFC.”

According to Hill-Lewis, city engineers have already designed four temporary roof options.

“All of these would be temporary roofs and it would give us the ability to put them up, take them down and put them back up again to give the stadium some flexibility to host other events.”

With the approval of other government agencies, the temporary roof could be completed by March 2025.

Cape Town is also considering the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) as a possible venue for the UFC fight.

However, the city will have to contend with strong competitors from Johannesburg and Pretoria when it comes to hosting the highly anticipated event.

“Our engineering teams have already developed four options, all of which work, but have different costs and different advantages and disadvantages.”

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Cape Town Stadium could be the ideal venue for Africa’s first UFC event

Picture: DHL Stadium / Facebook