Israel Adesanya did not grow up in poverty, quite the contrary. While the former UFC middleweight champ certainly struggled with bullying, racism, and discrimination as a child, he grew up in a quite well-off household in his native Nigeria. However, his upcoming UFC 305 opponent Dricus Du Plessis‘ comments alluding to this fact has hit quite a nerve for ‘Izzy’, who broke down crying at hearing them. However, there is one very important individual who seems to agree with ‘DDP’s take – Israel Adesanya.

In a clip from a documentary about his life, ‘Izzy’ could be seen admitting he grew up in comfort and luxury. “Life was really easy for me ‘cos my family was well-off and everything was just taken care of. I didn’t really have to worry about anything, apart from getting into trouble,” Izzy said.

His father, who was also interviewed for the documentary, also shed some light on his son’s martial arts journey, recounting they had enrolled him in a taekwondo class, not expecting their son to become one of the best fighters in the world. “We enrolled him in the Taekwondo classes, which was just an after-school program. Not because we wanted him to be a mixed martial artist. It was just what we thought would suit his fancy, and he loved it,” Adesanya’s father told the audience.

Du Plessis, of course, had used this well-known fact to make a devastating quip at Adesanya, alluding to the well-known fact that ‘Izzy’ grew up with servants as long as he lived in Nigeria. After that, however, he had to endure relentless bullying and racism in his high school in New Zealand. But Du Plessis’ comments seem to have hit ‘Izzy’ where it hurts the most: how he sees himself. And even as Adesanya has promised to make the South African regret his comments, Du Plessis just finds the whole thing funny.

Dricus Du Plessis laughs at Israel Adesanya’s crying

After the press conference, ‘DDP’ tried to defuse the tension and gravitas of the press conference, laughing off ‘Izzy’ crying on the press conference. “Come on guys stop crying at the press conferences it’s not that serious,” followed by a crying-laughing face emoji.

This reference to ‘guys’, plural may be a sly shot at his last opponent Sean Strickland, who too had broken at a press conference prior to their UFC 297 fight due to ‘DDP’s cutting comments. The difference being ‘Tarzan’ then proceeded to threaten to stab Du Plessis if he ever said that again. And knowing Strickland, he probably meant it and would at least have tried to follow up on his threat.

‘Izzy’, however, had a very different reaction, breaking into tears and sobs. However, that just means he is going into UFC 305 with a chip on his shoulder and determined to try and kill Du Plessis over their personal beef. Which, needless to say, makes for an electrifying matchup. The middleweight title being on offer, of course, is also a nice touch, but secondary to their beef.