The budding rivalry between Dricus Du
Plessis and Israel
Adesanya reached a boiling point following the South African’s
triumph over Robert
Whittaker at UFC 290 last summer.
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In that moment, tensions flared when Adesanya entered the Octagon
to confront Du Plessis, setting the stage for a future title bout
between the two middleweights. Du Plessis had drawn Adesanya’s ire
when he referred to himself as “the African fighter in the UFC”
during a media day event in 2023, and that anger was reflected when
the Nigerian-born Kiwi addressed Du Plessis in the cage that
night.
The highly-anticipated showdown between Adesanya and Du Plessis
took some time to materialize, but the two will finally meet more
than a year later in the UFC 305
headliner on Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Now,
however, their roles are reversed: Du Plessis is the champion and
Adesanya is the challenger. In an interview with Fox Sports Australia, Du Plessis noted that
Adesanya has been more subdued during promotion for their
championship bout than he was after UFC 290.
“It was interesting because, prior to that press conference I was
waiting to see what type of energy Adesanya brought because I was
going to match it,” Du Plessis said. “I was wondering if he would
come out with a new fire, or maybe a different strategy. But he
came out exactly as I thought he would. After our previous
encounter inside the Octagon, he was behaving like a fool and I
think he’s taken a step back and said ‘I can’t do that’. It was a
very emotional response and he can’t afford that again because it
was a big loss for him.”
Du Plessis claims that even if Adesanya had attempted to increase
the intensity during their press conference, it wouldn’t have
affected him all that much.
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“I don’t behave emotionally because I’m in control of what I do,”
he said. So there’s nothing he can ever say that would get me angry
or upset. When you start behaving emotionally like that, it’s a
loss.”
Du Plessis also stood by his controversial remarks.
“Would I have worded it differently if I had my time over? No,” Du
Plessis said. “I would’ve done it exactly the same. Because it’s
the truth. People make the mistake of thinking I said that to steal
shine or discredit, not at all. It’s all about my own goal; being
the first residing African champion. Did he misinterpret that? I
[don’t know]. But if you understand English, the words I said were
very specific. Maybe he did try to take something out of it that
wasn’t there but that’s none of my concern.”