Two South African fighters on stacked UFC 290 card

The main card was finalised and announced by UFC overlord Dana White this week, with du Plessis starring in a middleweight title eliminator fight against Robert Whittaker at the T-Mobile arena in Sin City on 8 July.

The former division champion represents the biggest challenge du Plessis has faced in the octagon since joining the promotion in 2020. The winner is slated to face the indomitable Israel Adesanya for the middleweight belt.

Du Plessis is on a seven-win streak and is coming off a TKO victory over veteran Derek Brunson in March. Meanwhile, Whittaker was last in the cage in September 2022, where he pieced up Marvin Vettori.

Meanwhile, rising bantamweight star Saaiman is slated to face Christian Rodriguez. The UFC is yet to confirm the preliminary card, but Eurosport has subsequently reported that the bout is on and Rodriguez confirmed as much on his social media.

Saaiman, a Pretoria native, fights out of Team CIT along with du Plessis and the pair have been on the same card for their last two events.

Rodriguez, who is fresh off derailing Rual Rosas Junoir's hype train, will be looking to end Saaiman's perfect 8-0 career record. Last time out in March, Saaiman defeated Leomana Martinez via majority decision.

Headlining UFC 290 is UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who faces interim champion Yair Rodriguez in a title unification bout. 

The UFC flyweight championship is also being contested, with champion Brandon Morena taking on challenger Alexandre Pantoja.