Israel Adesanya drops series of N-words in heated octagon face-off with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 [VIDEO]
Israel Adesanya has a fresh challenge and that’s South Africa’s own Dricus Du Plessis! As it has been observed in the UFC time and again, dark horses often push aside the ‘obvious’ next challengers and end up being on top. Fighters like Stipe Miocic, Alexander Volkanovski, Charles Oliveira and now Dricus Du Plessis stand testimony to this fact.
Dricus Du Plessis knocked out former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a potential middleweight title eliminator fight at UFC 290. Du Plessis rose up to the occasion in spite of being a massive underdog, winning the fight in an outstanding manner.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya had to have been impressed by the South African fighter’s performance. However, he refrained from showing it and gave Du Plessis a cold stare from the stands as the latter celebrated the win. Watch it below, courtesy of @btsportufc Twitter handle:
IZZY IS STARING A HOLE THROUGH DRICUS
MAKE THE FIGHT! 🫡
#UFC290 https://t.co/quVudeWuWb
‘The Last Stylebender’ requested the UFC president Dana White to get him in the cage to see his potential next opponent up close during post-fight formalities. What ensued was a tense face-off and verbal altercation between the two fighters. Israel Adesanya dropped several N-bombs on his rival. Watch the altercation below, courtesy of @jmagings Twitter handle:
WTF IS ISRAEL ADESANYA SAYING 💀💀#UFC290 https://t.co/gIUPFyKjCr
"We've got an African brother right here... Let's go N*... What's up N* What's up b****? Let's go N*... What are you gonna do N*?" Adesanya said to Du Plessis.
Du Plessis calmly responded and refused to acknowledge Adesanya as an African brother. The heated exchange led to several reactions from fans.
Israel Adesanya predicted and hoped for a potential upset in Whittaker vs. Du Plessis
Israel Adesanya became the second African-born UFC champion when he defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in 2019. However, Du Plessis, who hails from South Africa, now has a realistic opportunity to become the next African champion.
Although a serious rivalry is brewing between Israel Adesanya and Du Plessis, ‘The Last Stylebender’ made quite an accurate assessment of the latter’s skills heading into the UFC 290 event. The champ predicted Du Plessis to win and hoped for his prediction to come true in a video on his YouTube channel:
“I’m excited for this fight. On paper through their resume, people will look at Rob and say, ‘Oh, Rob’s got this, Rob’s going to smoke this guy, blah blah blah, former champion.’ Look, Dricus fights ugly, but he always finds a way to win.”
Adesanya added:
“He’s just an ugly fighter, but he finds a way to win. I really pray he gets this done against Rob. I really, really pray he gets this done against Rob. I think it’s one for the history books. Dricus, if he wins, I’m gonna punish him. I’m gonna torture him.”
Watch him make the statement at 11:15 of the video below:
Now that Du Plessis has emerged victorious, 'The Last Stylebender' might get the opportunity to "torture" and "punish" him in the octagon. However, there are other contenders like Sean Strickland in the title picture. It will be interesting to see how things play out.