It is no secret that Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis do not like each other. And last night’s face-off between the two after the latter’s victory over former Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker further fanned the flames.
The animosity between the two was palpable. But the seeds for last night’s intense face-off had been sowed much earlier, with Du Plessis commenting about being the first UFC champion who lives in Africa if he wins the title.
I’m going to take a belt to Africa: du Plessis
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On media day ahead of UFC 285 Las Vegas, Dricus du Plessis questioned whether any championship belts won by African champions Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou ever came to Africa.
“Did those belts ever go to Africa? As far as I know, they came to America and New Zealand. I’m going to take a belt to Africa. I’m the African fighting in the UFC.” du Plessis said.
The South African was alluding to the fact that Ngannou and Usman live in the USA while Adesanya, who holds dual citizenship of New Zealand and his native Nigeria, resides in New Zealand. He reiterated his association with Africa by pointing out he lives and trains in Africa.
“Myself and Cameron [Saaiman], we breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa, we’re Africa born, we’re Africa raised, we still reside in Africa, we train out of Africa. That’s an African champion, and that’s who I’ll be.” the Pretorian declared.
Stylebender took strong exception to DDP’s statement and blasted him, asking “But who the f*** is this cracker to tell me who the f*** I am? Who the f*** Kamaru us? Who the f*** Ngannou is?”. He also called the Pretorian a “product of colonization” on the Freestylebender YouTube channel.
Last night’s confrontation saw the Kiwi-Nigerian enter the Octagon following DDP’s second-round victory over Robert Whittaker. Izzy wasted no time and got in DDP’s face, calling him “My African brother” followed by “Yeah, what’s up n****, let’s go n****”.
“So what are you saying to everybody in New Zealand?” responded Du Plessis, referencing Adesanya’s New Zealand citizenship.
In the post-fight press conference, reporters asked Dana White about the Adesanya and Du Plessis face-off. Dana played down the incident, expressing his indifference.
Dana White and fans react to Israel Adesanya’s rant
“Who gives a s***? I could care less. This is the fight business. Israel Adesanya can say whatever he wants to say. Who gives as sh*t why? Are people b******* about that? Of course. They are. Too f****** bad.”
Fans, on the other hand, had mixed reactions. Some thought it was no big deal, others thought it was funny, or cringeworthy.
Instagram user ‘lifewtjay TJ Card II’ wrote:
“Amen it’s entertaining…meanwhile y’all all crying”
‘dattywine’ agreed:
“This is prize fighting and crazy things can be said sometimes in the heat of the moment. If you are too soft, go watch golf. Problem solved”
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‘shhhwraith_’ thought the UFC fans’ had a double standard:
“Sean Strickland , Connor mcgreor and Colby can say whatever they want and the mma community giggles like women Izzy will breathe and it’s “cringe lord” you folks don’t like Izzy that’s fine but stop being hypocritical cupcakes”
While ‘sgreaves0501’ thought it was entertaining:
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“He’s right, who cares? This will be a great fight buildup and entertaining fight.”
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