Israel Adesanya Congratulates Dricus du Plessis on UFC 305 Victory: ‘Dricus Is an African Champion’
Israel Adesanya congratulates Dricus du Plessis on his UFC 305 victory, highlighting sportsmanship and respect between the two fighters.
![Israel Adesanya, and Dricus du Plessis Getty, Instagram](https://www.pinkvilla.com/images/2024-08/1073730822_untitled-design-2024-08-18t122257-660.jpg)
Israel Adesanya has congratulated Dricus du Plessis after losing his middleweight title match. Looking to reclaim lost glory, Israel Adesanya stated that he wanted to ‘kill’ du Plessis. Unfortunately for the Nigerian, du Plessis came down on Adesanya hard right from the first round. Having a tough time combatting the striking of the South African, Adesanya ultimately yielded when he tapped out to a submission in the fourth round.
Speaking at the post fight presser, Adesanya looked to have put behind the bad blood that wreaked havoc prior to the UFC 305 main event. Congratulating du Plessis on his victory, ‘Izzy’ stated, “Dricus is an African champion, but the 3 kings will reign supreme…[Dricus] is gonna inspire another generation of African fighters as well. Congrats to him tonight. Till we meet again.”
Well, such a sentiment coming from Adesanya is quite contrary to what happened between the two leading up to the fight. Both Du Plessis and Adesanya lambasted each other verbally, even taking personal shots on some occasions. For example, when Adesanya revealed that he grew up with servants, Du Plessis pounced on the opportunity and sarcastically asked ‘Izzy’ whether he was taking the servants back to Africa.
Adesanya too, did not hold back. Taking a dig by referring to the practice of slavery in Africa, ‘Izzy’ attacked Du Plessis’s color. He also took things a bit further by posting a X-rated meme on social media. Adesanya made a side by side comparison of himself with Dricus du Plessis. ‘The Last Stylebender’ circled the groin area and asked the question about who the real African champion was.
The duo started their rivalry back in UFC 290 when Dricus du Plessis beat Robert Whittaker. Coming inside the octagon, the two had a heated conversation which led to a bad blood that lasted till UFC 305 concluded. In the meantime, Dricus du Plessis claimed himself to be the ‘real African champion’. Enraged by such a claim, Adesanya mentioned that Du Plessis has insulted the likes of Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman.
Now that the feud is settled, Dricus du Plessis will be awaiting new challenges. Most likely, he will be facing Sean Strickland next. However, with Robert Whittaker getting back to back dominant victories, ‘The Reaper’ is also making a strong case for himself. Having defeated Adesanya, ‘Stillknocks’ would want to silence Sean Strickland too.
ALSO READ: Israel Adesanya Continues Scathing Verbal Attacks on Dricus du Plessis With Fresh ‘Incest’ Dig
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