Dricus du Plessis claims he has signed deal to fight Israel Adesanya next at UFC 305: "I don't know what the hold-up is"
Dricus du Plessis recently expressed his thoughts on his first middleweight title defense. 'Stillknocks' claims that he has agreed to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, but he is now awaiting the promotion's confirmation.
The rivalry between du Plessis and Adesanya intensified long before their altercation at UFC 290 in July of last year. It began when 'The Last Stylebender' was the middleweight champion, and du Plessis called him out, vowing to become a legitimate African champion and return the title to Africa.
Their heated rivalry is reaching its climax as du Plessis vs. Adesanya is rumored to be the headline fight for UFC 305 in August, which will be held in Perth, Australia. In a recent interview with FightWave, the reigning middleweight champion expressed his frustration with the UFC for not announcing his fight with Adesanya.
He said:
''I’m ready, I’ve agreed to everything, I’m ready, I’m going to do it. That’s the fight I want, I called him out after winning the belt and that’s the fight the fans want to see and at the end of the day that’s the fight I want to have, that’s the guy I want to fight and let’s just announce this thing, I don’t know what’s the hold-up is. I want it to be announced.”
Check out Dricus du Plessis' comments below (0:45):
In his last octagon outing earlier this year at UFC 297, du Plessis captured the middleweight belt by defeating Sean Strickland by split decision. Meanwhile, Adesanya hasn't competed since losing his middleweight title to Strickland at UFC 293 last year.
Breaking down the UFC middleweight title picture
Israel Adesanya is seemingly set to take on Dricus du Plessis in the UFC 305 main event in an attempt to re-claim the middleweight title, which would make him a three-time undisputed champion.
Many clamored for a rematch between du Plessis and Sean Strickland after their razor-close bout earlier this year. Strickland then returned to the win column, defeating Paulo Costa at UFC 302 to return to the title mix. 'Tarzan' subsequently proclaimed that he would wait for a title shot and not take on any more lower-ranked contenders.
Strickland's claim to No.1 contendership could be hampered by the result of next weekend's UFC Saudi Arabia headliner, which features former champion Robert Whittaker and undefeated phenom Khamzat Chimaev.