Adesanya vs Du Plessis will go down at UFC 305- Photo via YouTube
Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and former champ Israel Adesanya just had a tense square off ahead of their grudge match at UFC 305 in August.
The former champion claimed there is a lot of bad blood between the two middleweights.
“We’ve had history, over the years,” Adesanya said at the recent press conference. “It’s almost like destiny because we met in Thailand, Tiger Muay Thai back in the day. Had a little little play around, and funny enough, here we are again. It’s like full circle, back where it all started for me. Again, he tried to discredit the Three Kings and say that he’s the real true African champion. And I was just, like, it’s a weird mindset, bro.”
“Like he came in the UFC, I knew who he was a little bit, but I didn’t go, ‘Oh, who the f— is this fake dude coming in?’ I just said, ‘Cool, he’s another African in the UFC.’ But then him discrediting me, Francis Ngannou, and Kamaru Usman, that ticked me off a little bit. So that’s what started this. But again, I’ll finish it.”
The reigning champion, however, does not agree with Adesanya.
“There’s no tension for me,” Du Plessis said about the match-up. “I get into the octagon and I do my job. I do my business. You can be the biggest asshole in the world. You can be the nicest guy in the world. I’m going out there to kill you, and I hope you’re doing the same to me because otherwise, it’s not gonna be a good night for you.”