UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has taken aim at Dricus du Plessis for “playing the victim” and explained the background surrounding their heated confrontation in the octagon at UFC 290.
Du Plessis stunned fight fans by finishing former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the second round to book a title fight against Adesanya, with the bout likely to headline the upcoming UFC card in Sydney slated for September.
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But the drama exploded after the fight when Adesanya stepped into the octagon and unleashed an expletive-laden rant at Du Plessis in which he constantly called him the n-word before the latter replied: “I am African but I’m no brother of yours, son.”
It left onlookers confused as to why Adesanya was seemingly so furious, but the champ has since taken to social media with a video to explain the background of their simmering feud that looks set to explode.
Adesanya’s main gripe was that Du Plessis claimed he wanted to be the “real first African champ”, with the South African explaining it meant he would be the first “trained, born, bred in Africa.”
In a Twitter post, Adesanya continued the war of words between himself and his next opponent and promised he will “finish” their saga once and for all.
“Don’t back play the victim … stand on your original statement,” Adesanya wrote.
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“Say it with yo (sic) chest n****!! I never discredited you as a real African, you tried to discredit 3 Real African UFC champions.
“You started this, and I will finish this! That’s not a threat, that’s a promise!”
Adesanya then wrote, “Gbo gbo yin ma ku”, which translates from Yoruba language to, “Hear you, don’t die.”
Du Plessis has previously elaborated on his desire of what it means to be the “real first African champ” although it would be a contentious claim given Adesanya, Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou were all born in Africa before moving elsewhere to further their careers.
“Did those belts ever go to Africa,” Du Plessi said.
“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.
“Myself and Cameron (Saaiman), we breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa, we’re African born, we’re African raised.
“We still reside in Africa and we train out of Africa. That’s an African champion and that’s who I’ll be.”
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