The 29-year-old returns to T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night, his fourth straight fight there, to face No. 5-ranked middleweight Derek Brunson after rattling off wins against Markus Perez, Trevin Giles, Brad Tavares and, most recently, Darren Till.
Fighting once again in the Las Vegas venue on a pay-per-view card is a comforting feeling for Du Plessis, but he’s found something much bigger than comfort being in the UFC.
UFC 285 COUNTDOWN: Jones vs Gane | Shevchenko vs Grasso | Full Episode
“I think I found a home here,” Du Plessis said. “More importantly, I found a home in the Octagon. As soon as I made my debut there, I still needed to find my feet in there and now I have. Now I feel like even in the last fight, I felt I belong here, and I feel much more comfortable. Every time you come here, everything’s more familiar, you know what to prepare and there’s nothing surprising you other than the actual fight.”
