- Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis maintain an intense confrontation
- The couple stand face to face for 90 seconds before separating.
- Du Plessis to defend title against Adesanya in Perth
Tensions threatened to boil over during the first clash between Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis ahead of their highly anticipated middleweight championship fight in Perth.
South African superstar Du Plessis will defend his belt against the former champion in the main event of UFC 305 at RAC Arena on August 18.
If Adesanya can regain his title, he will become the first three-time middleweight champion in UFC history.
The fierce rivals answered questions from the media at Tuesday’s press event before engaging in an extended standoff that lasted about 90 seconds.
“Did Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis just have the longest standoff in UFC history?” posted a prominent MMA account on X.
The pair have a long-standing rivalry and have taken shots at each other in the past, and Adesanya addressed the issue on Wednesday.
“We’ve had history over the years,” Adesanya said.
“It’s almost like destiny, because we met in Thailand, at Tiger Muay Thai. We played around a bit and, oddly enough, here we are again. It’s like coming full circle, coming back to where everything started for me.
Tensions were high on Tuesday as Israel Adesanya (right) and Dricus Du Plessis stood to face each other ahead of their title fight.
“Once again he tried to discredit the Three Wise Men and say that he is the real African champion. And I thought: ‘That’s a strange mentality, bro.'”
“When he came to the UFC, I kind of knew who he was, but I didn’t think, ‘Oh, who the hell is this fake guy coming? ‘ I just said, ‘Cool, he’s another African in the UFC.'”
“But then when he discredited me, Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman, that kind of bothered me. So that’s what started all this. But, again, I’m going to end it.”
Du Plessis denied disparaging Adesanya and explained that he did not feel any tension upon entering the Octagon.
“I go in the Octagon and do my job. I do what I’m supposed to do. You can be the biggest asshole in the world, you can be the nicest guy in the world, I’m going to go out there and kill you and I hope you do the same with me because otherwise it’s not going to be a good night for you,” he said.
The pair have a long-standing rivalry and will step into the Octagon to settle their differences on August 18 in Perth.
Du Plessis says he doesn’t care that he disliked Adesanya
‘As far as discrediting, I’ve never discredited anyone. Stating the facts, where do I reside? What’s my postcode? Where do I train? Where do I live? Where was I born? In South Africa. I’m still there, I’m still training and I won this South African belt.
“Frankly, I don’t care how it made him feel, I don’t care.”
