Tensions are rising ahead of the middleweight title fight at UFC 305, with champion Dricus Du Plessis and former champ Israel Adesanya engaging in a war of words during the pre-fight press conference that drew Adesanya to tears.
The underlying storyline behind this fight concerns a comment made by Du Plessis about being the first “true African champion” – a comment that refers to the fact that he is the first African-born fighter who also lives and trains in Africa to capture a UFC title.
That comment was interpreted very differently by Adesanya, who has taken great offence at the South African champ’s comment, and has made it his primary motivation heading into UFC 305 fight week in Perth, Australia.
Things stayed relatively calm for much of the week, but during Thursday night’s pre-fight press conference, that all came crashing down with one throwaway remark from Du Plessis sparking an angry response from an emotional Adesanya.
Adesanya was asked whether he’d bring the belt back to Africa if he defeated Du Plessis on Saturday, and Du Plessis’ response included a callback to a 2020 ESPN feature that saw Adesanya telling a story of hwo he wasn’t able to bathe himself until he was eight years of age, when he said he didn’t need the help from the family’s domestic servants.
Referring to that snippet, Du Plessis asked Adesanya, “Are you taking the servants with you when you’re going back? Are you taking the servants with you if you’re going back?”
Adesanya angrily responded, “What the f**k are you even on about?”
“My God, it’s obviously a see and tell,” Du Plessis replied.
“We can see that. What do you mean? You’re saying that I made this (fight) about culture?”
Adesanya replied, “Bro, shut the f**k up. You don’t even know anything about my story. You have no idea who the f**k I am,”
“I don’t care about your story,” Du Plesis responded.
That led to Adesanya, at this point welling up with tears, to say, “Listen, my father and myself had to wake up at 4am and clean the banks while my mom studied to be a nurse.
“You don’t know my f******g story. Don’t f*****g speak on my story if you don’t know my story. I will show you who you are Sunday, so right now shut the f**k up!”
The back and forth continued, with Adesanya accusing Du Plessis of disrespecting the indigenous people of Perth during their “Welcome to Country” ceremony earlier in the week.
But as the presser wrapped up, the tension between the pair had been cranked up as high as we’ve seen since their initial in-cage faceoff earlier this year.
Now all that remains is for the duo to make weight, and fight, and the matchup itself has seen the odds on Du Plessis shorten the closer the fight comes. Adesanya was initially a decent-sized favourite, but the odds are much closer now.
“There’s no place for odds in the octagon, I have to say that, but obviously the oddsmakers are seeing what I know and seeing what the people are seeing,” said Du Plessis.
“It’s pretty evident. Like I said, the man needs to be motivated to be back here. He had an emotional feel to be back here. He said it, he’s motivated by me, that’s what gets him back in here.
“I’m motivated by greatness. I’m not motivated by some person. If he doesn’t step in, I’ll be the same motivated fighter that steps in there, and anybody can see this.
“Once again, it’s about how bad do you want it. It’s pretty evident how bad I want this. And on Sunday morning, there will be no doubt of how bad I wanted this.”
