Israel Adesanya‘s anger towards Dricus Du Plessis has not cooled off one bit. Tension began to build between the two when ‘Stillknocks’ questioned the African identity of the middleweight champion. Adesanya, who takes great pride in his heritage, was highly offended when Du Plessis claimed that ‘Stylebender’ is not a true African. The verbal war between Adesanya and Du Plessis has continued ever since. The MMA community was expecting their rivalry to culminate inside the UFC Octagon.
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Chances for their bout improved when ‘Stillknocks’ won against Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. Following this, a showdown between Adesanya and Du Plessis was expected at UFC 293 in Sydney on September 9, 2023. However, Adesanya himself came forward to announce that ‘Stillknocks’ was not ready to fight him as he suffered a foot injury. ‘The Last Stylebender’s rant against Du Plessis paved the way for a lot of controversies. Now, the UFC middleweight champion has once again claimed that Du Plessis withdrew from the title shot as part of his crafty plans.
Israel Adesanya recently sat down for a chat on The Halfcast Podcast. During the conversation, Adesanya talked about how Du Plessis was calling him out for a title shot. Back then, he stated all Adesanya needed to do was put the gloves on, and then they could fight anywhere, anytime. However, when he got closer to the bout, he chose to withdraw.
Israel Adesanya makes serious accusations against Dricus du Plessis.
The UFC middleweight kingpin revealed that Du Plessis and his team have some crooked plans, and that was why he is not ready to fight him. Adesanya said, “Now he doesn’t wanna fight. Even after [UFC 290], he’s like, ‘Oh, bro, all you had to do was put some gloves on, we could have got it on right there.’ B***a* F**k. You wouldn’t have. ‘Cause guess what? He didn’t want it”
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He added, “He’s not a scared man, he’s a tough dude. He’s very crafty, and he’s got a good team behind him. Smart team. I don’t think he’s a scared man, but I’ll tell you he’s scared of me. You know, when you look in someone’s eyes, you just know straight away.“
It is Adesanya himself who took to Twitter to announce that his fight against Dricus Du Plessis was scrapped even before anything was made official. ‘Stylebender’ lashed out against ‘Stillknocks’ for withdrawing from the bout. In the same video, Adesanya announced that his next fight would be against Sean Strickland in Sydney, Australia.
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Despite the callout, there has been no official confirmation about Adesanya’s next fight. What are your thoughts about Adesanya’s accusations against Dricus Du Plessis? When do you think the pair will eventually fight?
Watch this story: Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones Cross Paths and Get Into a Friendly Tussle