Israel Adesanya broke down crying at the UFC 305 pre-fight press conference a few hours ago. ‘Izzy’, of course, has been incensed at middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis allegedly questioning his African heritage, which prompted him to tell the reporters that he plans to visit Africa right after the fight. To which the South African asked sarcastically if ‘Izzy’ would be bringing his servants (which he famously had as a child in Nigeria) with him on tour.

This touched a nerve with ‘Izzy’, as tears started streaming down his face and he almost started sobbing. However, the Kiwi-Nigerian, who is an outspoken advocate for men being more emotionally expressive, does not see it as anything to be embarrassed by as he posted a clip of it on his social media, along with a warning for the champ.

In an Instagram post minutes ago, Adesanya has vowed to defeat ‘DDP’ and once again lift the title in Australia. “The same city I achieved my dream is the city I’ll kill his. 🪦,” ‘Izzy’ captioned the post. The Yoruba, of course, had defeated Robert Whittaker to become the middleweight champion for the first in Australia, albeit in a different city than Perth, where he will fight Du Plessis on top of UFC 305.

Israel Adesanya feels personally aggrieved by Dricus Du Plessis in a way that has not been true for any of his opponents so far. Even his feud with Sean Strickland, although quite heated, was of a very different nature, with the stakes being more individualized. But Du Plessis has hit ‘Stylebender’ at a very different level- his identity and who he thinks he is as a person. And there is more at play here than meets the eye at first glance, even though Adesanya did have servants as a boy in Nigeria. But that does not take away from the struggles he had to endure as a boy.

Why did Du Plessis’ comments hurt Israel Adesanya so much

For much of his school life, Adesanya was always a fish out of water. Having moved to New Zealand at ten from his native Nigeria, ‘Izzy’ stuck out in the Rotorua Boys’ High School in the north of the picturesque country.

This made him an easy target for bullies and kids looking for trouble. Not only was he bullied relentlessly throughout his school life, but he also faced racist comments from some of the kids. Summing up his experience, ‘Izzy’ once remarked that it was there that found out for the first time he was black.

Since he has had to go through hell for the color of his skin and his African heritage, no wonder the former champ had such a primal reaction to being accused of having had a privileged and easy life by the South African, who, he feels had previously questioned his African-ness. What are your thoughts on Israel Adesanya crying at the UFC 305 press conference?