Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis have to be separated after ‘longest faceoff in UFC history’
- Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis have a heated confrontation
- Couple stands nose to nose for 90 seconds before being separated
- Du Plessis to defend title against Adesanya in Perth
Tensions ran high during the first clash between Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis ahead of their highly anticipated middleweight championship clash in Perth.
South African superstar Du Plessis will defend his title against the former champion in the main event of UFC 305 at the RAC Arena on August 18.
If Adesanya can regain his title, he will become the first three-time middleweight champion in UFC history.
The two rival men answered questions from the media during a press conference on Tuesday, after which they looked each other in the eye for an extended period of about 90 seconds.
“Did Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis just have the longest showdown in UFC history?” wrote a prominent MMA account on X.
The two have a long-standing rivalry and have shot at each other in the past, and Adesanya brought up the subject on Wednesday.
“We’ve had history over the years,” Adesanya said.
“It’s almost like fate, because we met in Thailand, Tiger Muay Thai, back in the day. We played a little bit, and funny enough, here we are again. It’s like coming full circle, back to where it all started for me.
Tensions were high on Tuesday as Israel Adesanya (right) and Dricus Du Plessis faced off for their title fight
‘He tried again to discredit the Three Kings and say that he is the real African champion. And I just thought, it’s a strange mindset, bro.’
“When he came to the UFC, I kind of knew who he was, but I didn’t think, ‘Oh, who the f— is this fake guy coming here?’ I just said, ‘Cool, he’s another African in the UFC.’
“But when he discredited me, Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman, that irritated me a little bit. So that’s what started this. But again, I’ll finish it.”
Du Plessis denied he had discredited Adesanya and explained that he felt no tension when he entered the Octagon.
“I go in the Octagon and I do my job. I do my business. You can be the biggest a..hole in the world, you can be the nicest guy in the world, I’m going in there to kill you and I hope you do the same to 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 enter the Octagon in Perth on August 18 to settle their differences.
Du Plessis says he doesn’t care that he rubbed Adesanya the wrong way
‘As far as discrediting, I’ve never discredited anybody. In fact, where do I live? What’s my zip code? Where do I train? Where do I live? Where was I born? In South Africa. I’m still here, I’m still training, and I won this belt in South Africa.
“Honestly, I don’t care if it offends him. I don’t care.”