Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya beef, explained

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All eyes are on the UFC 305 main event, Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya, which will go down this weekend (Sat., Aug. 17, 2024) from inside RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Du Plessis is seeking the first defense of his Middleweight title, but a golden strap is not the primary reason for tuning into this match up.

The history is a little more complicated.

I’m not sure it can be considered the true start of their bad blood, but the origins of Adesanya and Du Plessis’ relationship began in Thailand in 2014. In the clip below, a 22-year-old Du Plessis is light sparring with Alexander Volkanovski in 2016, but near the end, you can actually see “Stylebender” crash into the duo.

Now, 2014 was an awful long time ago. Back then, Du Plessis was still fighting solely in South Africa, not even a champion yet in the regional EFC promotion. Adesanya, meanwhile, was fighting MMA for regional shows in China and New Zealand while also kickboxing professionally. He hadn’t even fought Alex Pereira yet!

The duo didn’t discuss their Tiger Muay Thai training sessions for many years, and there’s a difference of opinion on who got the better of their scraps. Adesanya claims to have beaten up “Stillknocks” on the feet but lost the grappling, whereas Du Plessis argues no kickboxing between them ever happened.

Either way, the beef didn’t really heat up until March 2023 at UFC 285. In the lead up to his bout versus Derek Brunson, “DDP” controversially got some beef brewing with the champion by questioning if Adesanya — and Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman by extension — were true African champions since they lived and trained in other countries. Du Plessis, conversely, lives in South Africa and “breathes African air,” which in his opinion counts for more.

Du Plessis’ point is a complicated one. On one hand, Du Plessis is proving to his fellow South African athletes that a champion can emerge from the region without leaving the country. That’s a genuine point for strengthening the MMA scene in South Africa and Africa as a whole. At the same time, it ignores a lot of context about why athletes like Adesanya, Usman, and Ngannou were forced to leave home in pursuit of better opportunity. Du Plessis has since walked his comments back and tried to rephrase, but the damage was done.

Lack of nuance aside, Du Plessis’ comments made the champion take notice. “DDP” wasn’t yet in the immediate title mix, but he still had Adesanya ready to “drag his carcass across South Africa.” Du Plessis isn’t a consummate trash talker, but he does seem to have a knack for getting a rise out of his opponents, and Adesanya definitely took the bait.

The beef came to a head at UFC 290. Fresh off the finest win of his career — at the time and arguably to this day! — over Robert Whittaker (watch here), Du Plessis’ title shot was secured. Adesanya, fresh off retaking his Middleweight belt from Alex Pereira, was brought into the cage for a face-off, and things got ugly.

Read the full transcription here if you’d like, but the long and short of it is that a seemingly drunk Adesanya said the N word as many times as he could. It was an awkward and unpleasant exchange, but Du Plessis kept his composure and didn’t say anything too awful in return.

Afterward, Du Plessis was offered to face Adesanya at UFC 293 just eight weeks later, but a broken foot and the generally quick nature of the turnaround prevented the marquee match up from being booked at its hottest point. Instead, “Stylebender” laid an egg against Sean Strickland, momentarily putting the match up on hold. Fortunately, Du Plessis’ close victory and subsequent title win over Strickland reopens the grudge match and keeps the belt on the line nearly a year after they were supposed to fight.

Since the UFC 293 face-off, the bad blood has been more muted. There was a long, intense staredown and mentions of a “colonist” mindset, but it’s hard to top screaming in one another’s faces without actually throwing hands. Fortunately, we’re just a few days away from a genuine fistfight between two African champions.

Think they shake hands afterward?

LIVE! Watch UFC 305 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

’BAD BLOOD BOILS OVER! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to RAC Arena in Perth, western Australia, on Sat., Aug. 17, 2024, with an absolutely incredible pay-per-view (PPV) main event between Middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis, taking on African rival — and former 185-pound roost-ruler — Israel Adesanya. In UFC 305’s co-headliner, top-ranked Flyweight contender, Kai Kara-France (No. 4), locks horns with former 125-pound title contender, Steve Erceg (No. 7), while Mateusz Gamrot meets Dan Hooker in a fun Lightweight scrap one fight prior. UFC 305’s PPV main card (see it here) will also feature Tai Tuivasa vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Jingliang Li vs. Carlos Prates and so much more. It’s must-watch action from “Down Under!” UFC 305 start time scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET (Prelims) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV).