There was heat between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya well prior to UFC 305, and that hasn’t changed following the event’s pre-fight press conference.
Champ Du Plessis (though the feud well predates his title reign) and ex-champ Adesanya have butted heads frequently over the former’s claim of being the “real” African fighter in the UFC. While South Africa’s Du Plessis has insisted he meant it only in terms of actually living on the continent, Adesanya previously brought up racial undertones, calling Du Plessis “my African brother” and referring to him as “n*gga” during a heated face-off following UFC 290 last year.
Adesanya, Nigerian by birth but hailing from New Zealand, is black. Du Plessis, from a country not all that far removed from apartheid, is white. It’s a messy situation, without question.
At the UFC 305 press conference, Adesanya called himself “a child of the Earth,” saying that he would take the belt back to Nigeria, South Africa, and New Zealand.
“Are you taking the servants with you when you go back? Are you taking the servants with you if you’re going back?” interjected Du Plessis, suggesting Adesanya is sitting in a different position, economically, these days. “You’re saying I made it about culture?”
“Bro, shut the f*ck up, you don’t know anything about my story!” fired back Adesanay. “I don’t care about your story,” Du Plessis replied.
Adesanya gave his story regardless, despite Du Plessis continuing to insist that he didn’t care. “Listen, my father and myself had to wake up at 4AM and clean the banks while my mom studied to be a nurse,” Adesanya said. “You don’t know my f*cking story. Don’t f*cking speak of my story if you don’t know my story. I will show you who you are Sunday, so right now, shut the f*ck up!”
“I can’t wait,” Du Plessis replied, continuing to deny saying anything beyond he was the first residing African fighter. “You can’t change that fact.”
“Shut up Pink Fit,” Adesanya retorted.
Later, a tearful Adesanya admitted that Dricus Du Plessis had touched a nerve. “He touched a subject there because I do this for my family. I do this for the people I love, and I will fight for you forever. I swear to God. Watch this. Look, I’m a f*cking human being. I’m a man. I can cry and whoop your ass at the same time. I feel the love from the crowd. First time I fought here, [UFC] 221, that was February 2018, that was me making my dream come true. Sunday, I’m going to f*cking kill your dreams, b*tch! I’m going to f*cking kill your dreams.”
UFC 305 takes place at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on Saturday, August 17.
