Middleweight division’s number-one contender Dricus du Plessis was the initial opponent for Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. However, he had to pull out due to an injury, which left a bad taste in Dana White‘s mouth. Now, ‘Stillknocks’ has issued a statement and responded to the UFC president sounding off on him for pulling out of the fight against ‘Izzy’.

Dricus du Plessis is undefeated in the UFC. He has won all of his six fights in the promotion, with a great performance against Robert Whittaker in his last fight. Following the win, he became the title contender for the middleweight belt. But he had to withdraw due to the injury and Dana White did not take that well. Moreover, he even openly stated about how he feels when a fighter turns down a fight. Let’s see what du Plessis had to say about that.

Dricus du Plessis talks about turning down the Israel Adesanya fight

‘Stillknocks’ was waiting to share his response to all the questions surrounding his pullout and the aftermath of UFC 293. He said, “I have been ready to address every situation of what might happen this weekend, what the UFC might say, what Dana might say.” However, Dricus du Plessis did not understand why Dana White would respond negatively to his pullout, given that he had to nurse his injury problem. He said, “Obviously him [Dana White] not being very happy that I turned down a fight on seven weeks’ notice with an injury, which I really don’t understand.”

However, he understands that the UFC, much like any other promotion, is running a business. So he mentioned that he respects the business side of things as well. “At the end of the day, it’s business for them and you’ve got to respect that,” said the number-one contender. Du Plessis also stated that this was the first time that he had pulled out on short notice. It has never happened before.

‘Stillknocks’ claims he has always stepped up when the UFC needed him to do so

The South African star mentioned that, unlike this time, he had never said no to a fight. He spoke about his fighting record and that he never backed down from a fight unless there was a valid reason. Du Plessis said, “If I go look at my track record, I know for a fact that I am not somebody that turns down fights if it’s not a good enough reason.”

He also spoke about the fact that he’s taken many fights on short notice. Whenever the UFC asked him, he’d immediately give them a positive reaction. But it just could not have happened this time. “I have taken fights on short notice multiple times. Every time they phone, I say, ‘Yes, let’s go’. This time it just wasn’t possible with the injury and short notice,” said Dricus du Plessis.

READ MORE: “Izzy Can Go Away…”: Days After His Heartbreaking Loss to Sean Strickland, UFC HOFer Gives Yet Another Blunt Reality Check to Israel Adesanya

‘Stillknocks’ is pretty straightforward whenever he has to talk about how he feels about certain situations. While there is a chance that he might have to wait for the title shot, he is aiming to fight Sean Strickland in December. It remains to be seen if Dana White does UFC 293 main event rematch or gives Dricus du Plessis the title that he thinks he deserves.

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