Dricus du Plessis believes Israel Adesanya’s infamous N-word rant was a "fight or flight" response
Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya are in the final stage of their preparations for their highly anticipated middleweight title fight, set to headline UFC 305. The pair have already shared several tense face-offs ahead of the bout, but none more infamous than Adesanya's N-word-laced rant at UFC 290.
'Stillknocks' faced former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at the event, with the winner assumed to be next in line to face 'The Last Stylebender', who held the title at the time.
It was clear that Adesanya wanted to fight Du Plessis, with the South African's comments about wanting to be the first "real African champion" in the UFC having irked the Nigerian-born Kiwi.
Following his incredible second-round TKO win over Whittaker, footage of the then-champion stating "he manifested" the result went viral. He then entered the octagon to share a heated face-off with Du Plessis, where Adesanya dropped numerous N-words and labeled 'Stillknocks' as his "African brother."
Ahead of UFC 305, the South African was interviewed by Shakiel Mahjouri, where he reflected on the infamous rant, saying:
"The reason he reacted the way he did, and behaved like an absolute clown in the octagon when we faced off after the Whittaker fight was because he watched me fight Whittaker and beat him better than [Adesanya] did. It was 100% a fight or flight response from him... He kind of made himself look like a fool."
Watch Dricus du Plessis discuss Israel Adesanya below (5:10):
Dricus du Plessis shoots down Islam Makhachev's middleweight title aspirations
Several UFC champions have expressed their desire to attain a UFC title in a second division, with Alex Pereira's recent achievement seeing him become the latest double champion.
Lightweight king Islam Makhachev has stated several times that his goal is to move to welterweight and lay claim to the 170-pound title. But with part-time teammate Belal Muhammad becoming the welterweight champion after beating Leon Edwards at UFC 304, Makhachev's plans may need to change.
His coach, Javier Mendez, recently stated that the Dagestani could instead move to middleweight. But Dricus du Plessis is less confident of Makhachev's chances of winning the 185-pound title.
During a recent interview with Kevin Iole, he said this:
"What can I say? I mean, that just sounds - but I mean, yeah, everybody can dream, right? I always say never cap your dreams and, you know, dream big, but he's dreaming real big. I'm very big."
Watch Dricus du Plessis' interview below (10:10):