Former opponent trolls Israel Adesanya for crying at the UFC 305 pre-fight press conference
The pre-fight press conference for UFC 305 in Perth, Australia got quite heated as rivals Israel Adesanya and current UFC middleweight world champion Dricus du Plessis got quite personal on the mic.
It seems the champion struck a nerve in the former champ as du Plessis questioned Adesanya's African family history. Though Adesanya is famous for wearing his heart on his sleeve, the Nigerian-born Kiwi went emotional and even shed a tear defending his family's honor.
Check out a video of the exchange, as posted by MMA Junkie on X:
This emotional outburst by Adesanya made the rounds on social media, with fans and fighters sharing their two cents on the matter. Marvin Vettori, a former opponent of Adesanya, trolled the former two-time UFC middleweight champ on X, saying:
"Adesanya cried because he can’t say he grow up poor lol"
What did Dricus du Plessis say that caused Israel Adesanya's emotional response?
It looks like the root of this personal beef between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya stems from when the former proclaimed himself as the first "real" African UFC champion. This cut deep under Adesanya's skin as he's been quite proud of being one of the first African-born fighters to win UFC gold.
When 'The Last Stylebender' said he'll come back and visit his birthplace of Nigeria next week, du Plessis replied:
"Are you [Adesanya] taking the servants with you when you're going back [to Nigeria]?"
Offended by the champion's subtle reference to his family's domestic workers back in Nigeria, Adesanya verbally detonated saying:
"What the f**k are you even on about? You don't know anything about my story. You have no idea who the f**k I am. My father and myself had to wake up at 4 a.m to clean the banks while my mom studied to be a nurse, you don't know my f**king story!"
Visibly emotional, a shaken Adesanya shed some tears while adding:
"I do this for the people I love. I will fight for you forever... I am a f**king human being, I am a man. I can cry and whoop your a*s at the same time. I feel the love from the crowd... Sunday I'm gonna f**king kill your dreams b**ch."