Adesanya and Du Plessis clash over African champion story

Dricus Du Plessis stands by his statement that he is the UFC’s first African champion.

Reigning middleweight champion Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will make his first defense during the headlining event of UFC 305 on Aug. 17, when he takes on former champion Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).

The bad blood stemmed from Du Plessis claiming he is the first true African UFC champion, disregarding Adesanya, Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou, who he claims were not living or training on the continent when they claimed UFC gold. That culminated in a racially charged faceoff at UFC 290 in July 2023, after Du Plessis defeated Robert Whittaker.

“We have history over the years,” Adesanya said during Tuesday’s press conference about the UFC 305 sales. “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. Again, he tried to discredit the three kings and say that he is the real African champion.

“And I just thought, it’s a weird mindset, bro. The way he came into the UFC, I kind of knew who he was, but I didn’t think, ‘Oh, who the f*ck is this fake guy coming in?’ I just said, ‘Cool, he’s another African in the UFC.’ But when he disparaged me, Francis Ngannou, and Kamaru Usman, that kind of pissed me off. So that’s what started this. But again, I’ll finish it.”

Du Plessis clarifies his position and is adamant that he will not change it.

“There’s no thrill for me,” Du Plessis said. “I go into the octagon and I do my job. I do my business. You can be the biggest scumbag in the world. You can be the nicest guy in the world. I’m going to go out there and kill you and I hope you do the same to me because otherwise it’s not going to be a good night for you. As for discrediting – I’ve never discredited anyone. Establishing facts.

“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. I won this title in South Africa, I haven’t traveled anywhere else. That’s all I said. So I’ve never discredited anyone, but honestly, I don’t really care how it upsets them. I don’t care.”

“I don’t really care where he comes from, but I’ll show him who he is,” Adesanya replied.

Du Plessis, 30, hit back and joked to Adesanya, 34, who said he had recently taken up golf again during his time off.

“Whatever that means,” Du Plessis said. “I’m glad you’ve taken up golf because it’s a retired person’s sport. I can understand why you’ve taken up golf.”

For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s UFC 305 event hub.