UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis became the clear title contender last year. His dominant TKO victory over former champ and the ever-dangerous Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 set up a title clash with the then-champion Israel Adesanya, with whom he has very real bad blood. More than his victory, what made many take notice and recognize him as the clear title contender was the way ‘DDP’ defeated Whittaker.

The South African stopped Kiwi in the second round of their co-main event clash and had a face-off with ‘Izzy’ straight away. The reigning champ has claimed that the spectacular Whittaker victory came about almost entirely because of his coach’s game plan to fight ‘Reaper’ southpaw, instead of the orthodox stance ‘Stillknocks’ usually fights with.

“All credit to my coach for that fight. There’s very very few holes in the game of Robert Whittaker. Fighting southpaw, he beat all of them but he got caught a few times coming in, and we went through the videos and he just showed me every time he saw it. My coach came to me and says okay we’re going to fight southpaw and he was right. The game plan worked out perfectly,” Du Plessis revealed on the latest episode of UFC 305 Embedded.

Following this victory, no one was more ecstatic than Israel Adesanya, who could be seen celebrating ‘DDP’s victory. Why? Because the then-champion wanted to fight Du Plessis and shut him up once and for all. However, a series of unfortunate events meant the fight couldn’t happen last year. But it finally will on August 17, even as some ask, why do the two men hate each other so much?

Why there is hype for the Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya grudge match?

Du Plessis and Adesanya will finally have the opportunity to resolve their bad blood in the octagon next week. ‘DDP’ will defend his title for the first time against the legendary former champion on UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. Their animosity, of course, goes back to comments ‘DDP’ made last year, where he claimed he would be the first ‘real African champion’ of the UFC since he lived and trained in the continent, which none of the other African champs (including ‘Izzy’) did.

Adesanya, who hails from Nigeria and is incredibly proud of his Yoruba heritage, was outraged. He felt that the South African was questioning his African-ness and vowed to make him pay. Their animosity was on full display right after ‘DDP’s victory over Whittaker last year. Adesanya came into the cage for what turned out to be one of the most bizarre, ranting, expletive-laden face-offs in the promotion’s history.

Before they could fight, however, ‘Izzy’ dropped his title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293, which ‘DDP’ won off of ‘Tarzan’ this year. Now, Adesanya has the opportunity to not only win back his title but also make ‘DDP’ pay for his comments. And those make for the best fights. What are your predictions for UFC 305? Let us know in the comments below.