Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis will settle their heated rivalry in the cage in the main event of UFC 305.
Middleweight champion Du Plessis will defend his title for the first time since becoming champion after his split decision victory against Sean Strickland.
Tensions have flared between him and Adesanya ahead of the huge tilt in Perth and boiled over during Friday’s press conference where Adesanya was reduced to tears as the pair exchanged verbal blows.
The bout has been 18 months in the making after comments from Du Plessis sparked the heated rivalry.
Advert
Bad blood between the pair stems from the South African’s comments as the true ‘African fighter’ in the UFC.
At the time of his comments, Francis Ngannou, Kamara Usman and Adesanya all held UFC gold but Du Plessis claimed those belts were not legitimate victories for the continent.
He asked: “Did those belts ever go to Africa? As far as I know, it came to America and New Zealand. I’m going to take the belt to Africa. I’m the African fighter in the UFC.As far as I know, it came to America and New Zealand. I’m going to take the belt to Africa. I’m the African fighter in the UFC."
Adesanya immediately called the middleweight out for his comments and claimed he was out of order to try and discredit three UFC champions. He wrote on X after an expletive filled rant in the cage back in 2023: “I never discredited you as a real African, you tried to discredit 3 Real African UFC champions.”
Despite causing controversy with his comments, Du Plessis has no intention of retracting his statement but added it was not his intention to discredit the respective heritages of his fellow fighters.
“If I could take time back, I would say exactly the same because I stated the facts,” he told The Sun.
“I 100 per cent stated the fact that I am the African fighter that resides in Africa.
“And I want to be the first champion that was African-born, African-raised, African-trained and still resides in Africa.
“And taking that back would make no sense because that’s a fact.”
He added: “I’m not taking anything away from their heritage. Or saying they’re not African.
“Not at all. But they don’t reside in Africa and that’s facts.
"They didn’t train in Africa, they didn’t get their expertise of fighting in Africa.
“That’s where I get mine. My coaches, my team, everybody is African. So, yeah, I will not take it back.
“And I will always stand by it because it will always be the fact.”
The UFC are yet to host an event in Africa but president Dana White has stated on record the promotion plans to visit the continent in the near future.
White confirmed the promotion will host a fight night in South Africa if Du Plessis bests Adesanya.
“You have one of these situations where, both guys, everything is on the line, especially because they dislike each other so much,” White said during a recent press scrum.
“And if [Du Plessus] can beat Izzy and bring that belt back to South Africa, obviously we’ll do an event there. And if Izzy can [regain] and win the title, it’s huge for him and his legacy.”
Topics: UFC, MMA, Israel Adesanya, Dana White
Marcus Banks