There is no doubt that Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is one of the greatest Middleweight UFC fighters. He has won matches in style and has a huge following. However, his recent beef with Dricus Du Plessis over authentic African roots earned him several slaps on the wrist from his fans.
Du Plessis, who has been beefing with Adesanya for a while now, finally earned his rights to the title shot. The South-African martial artist secured a victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, shocking the entire world. Now, in accordance with the way things have been progressing in the UFC Middleweight division, Dricus Du Plessis is the one who will be facing Israel Adesanya next.
First Du Plessis, Now Whittaker – Israel Adesanya bashed by fans after ‘Root Beef’ continues…
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Both Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis have called out each other over ‘real African roots’. The beef turned nasty real quick, and now, Adesanya has gone and done it again – this time, Robert Whittaker being the one whose roots have been questioned.
Izzys a filthy fcking hypocrite https://t.co/puiHunf8nj pic.twitter.com/St52bbpoDC
— 🐐丂ㄒ_卩丨’卄卂丨尺 🀄⚔ (@GoatStPiHair) July 12, 2023
Adesanya explicitly said that he doesn’t agree with the claim that Robert Whittaker has roots in New Zealand. Adesanya, who was born in Africa, lives and trains in New Zealand. As for Whittaker, the fighter was born in New Zealand and grew up in Australia. Now, after Du Plessis, Adesanya has questioned Whittaker’s roots, claiming that Australia is where he is from, as opposed to New Zealand. A video went viral on Twitter that shed light on what Adesanya has been saying about Robert Whittaker. The caption for the video read: “Izzys a filthy f****g hypocrite“.
Fans wasted no time in giving it back to the Middleweight UFC Champion.
Dude changing nationalities like it's a pair of kicks
— General Vgorode™️ (@bzkobi95) July 12, 2023
Thanks for giving me another reason to hate on Adesanya
— Kempesson (@kempesson) July 12, 2023
Every few days when I start to slightly like Adesanya a video like this will just pop out
— LEON ERA 🏆🏆 (@HonestMMA_) July 12, 2023
One fan tweeted sarcastically, making a reference to Adesanya’s recent controversial statement about ‘his heart being Chinese’.
Don't forget about his Chinese heart ❤️🇨🇳
— ave (@str_ry98) July 13, 2023
One fan criticized both Israel Adesanya and his upcoming opponent, Dricus Du Plessis.
ddp and izzy both are just terrible
— baldtony (@TonysJab) July 12, 2023
While another said Du Plessis was the worse of the two in terms of racial slandering.
Izzy's a terrible person but tbf, DDP's words have way way worse historical context
— 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓻 𝓓𝓲𝓪𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓔𝓵𝓫𝓸𝔀𝓼💎 (@DiamondElbows) July 12, 2023
Some fans stood with Robert Whittaker in this scenario.
Rob's just a legend. Hope he bounces back.
— Youssef K (@Youssef_k75) July 13, 2023
Robert Whittaker is absolute class
— Mr B (@Mr_Bandling) July 13, 2023
Adesanya’s take on Whittaker not being from New Zealand has put the Middleweight fighter under scrutiny, especially because of his latest statements.
Why is Israel Adesanya being called out? Racial Controversies Surrounding the Stylebender
Israel Adesanya is proud of both his African and Auckland heritage. He has been beefing with Du Plessis over African roots for quite some time now. As a matter of fact, after Du Plessis won against Whittaker, the Stylebender walked into the ring, confronted Du Plessis, saying he ‘manifested this’ and proceeded to call him the ‘n-word’ on live broadcast, earning a hellfire of criticism in the process.
Now, he has openly disputed Robert Whittaker’s New Zealand heritage, saying that his home is Australia, not New Zealand. It just so happens that a couple of days back, Adesanya made a very controversial statement. He recently claimed that his heart is Chinese and proceeded to wrap the Chinese flag around his shoulders.
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Fans found this to be ‘hypocritical’ and called Israel Adesanya out on it.
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Do you think it is fair for Adesanya to make claims about Whittaker’s roots? OR does he really have the standing to be able to do so? What does Du Plessis have to say about all of this?
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