Israel Adesanya slams Dricus du Plessis for calling himself first true African champion: "We paved the way for him"
With UFC 305 fight week officially set into motion, Israel Adesanya has re-ignited his racial-based rivalry with Dricus du Plessis. One year after the two initially clashed heads over their shared ties to African countries, the rivalry drifted away from the personal matter but has been brought back into the light by the 35-year-old former champion.
In an interview with TMZ Sports, Adesanya called out du Plessis for deeming himself as the first "real" African champion. The challenger recalled Abdul Razak Alhassan's comments prior to UFC Denver when the 39-year-old called 'Stillknocks' a "b****."
"Abdul Razak [Alhassan] said it three weeks ago before his fight. Dricus is a b**** for what he's saying... People like Razak and myself who were forced to flee our own country because of a better opportunity, [Du Plessis] will never understand that because he lives behind the f****** gates of his privileged life in South Africa."
'The Last Stylebender' continued to say he believes du Plessis, calling himself the first African champion, is dismissive of the work that previous champions, Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usman, and himself, have done.
Adesanya continued:
"Without Francis [Ngannou] being champion, without myself being champion, without Kamaru [Usman] being champion, he would have never been champion. We paved the way for him and then he comes out there and tries to take it all for himself."
Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis rivalry history
The rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis has been brewing for two years and is finally settled in the octagon, just not how most imagined it would be.
The two first got on each others' radars when du Plessis was climbing the ranks as a contender and said he wanted to dethrone Adesanya, then the champion, and bring the belt back to Africa. The tension between the two built up after du Plessis knocked out Robert Whittaker to become the No.1 contender at UFC 290, leading to a heated face-off in the cage.
Over one year later, the score will finally be settled, but with the roles reversed and du Plessis now as champion. Adesanya has not fought since losing the belt to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in a shocking upset last year.