"Do I like Israel Adesanya? No” - Dricus du Plessis sheds light on beef with 'The Last Stylebender' amid rumors of their fight

Dricus du Plessis became the first South African champion in UFC history after defeating Sean Strickland at UFC 297 earlier this month.

'Stillknocks' accomplished the goal he had set out upon entering the promotion, to become the first African UFC fighter, residing on the continent, to be crowned the champion.

His comments about wanting to become the "first African UFC champion" angered then-middleweight king Israel Adesanya. 'The Last Stylebender' made his frustrations known, and tensions between the pair began to rise.

After 'Stillknocks' defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, he and Adesanya shared a heated face-off in the octagon, which appeared to all but set up a fight between them.

After beating Strickland to win the title, the South African was interviewed by SuperSport upon his arrival back home. He was asked to shed light on the perceived beef between himself and Adesanya, and said this:

"There was never bad blood, for me. He tried to make it that way because I said something that was true and he didn't like it. 'Cause it took his niche. I said it, and here we are. Where did my belt go? Where are we now? We're in South Africa. I am home, and I brought the belt to Africa, where I live. That is all said and done. The big thing is [that] he made it personal for himself. Do I like Israel Adesanya? No. Will we have a beer? No."

Listen to Dricus du Plessis' comments below (29:10):

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Dricus du Plessis' manager discusses the likelihood of 'Stillknocks' appearing on UFC 300

UFC 300 is set to be one of the promotion's biggest-ever events. The card will take place in April, and while company CEO Dana White has announced ten fights already, he has remained tight-lipped about the main event.

Following Dricus du Plessis' title victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 297, there has been speculation that the South African could face Israel Adesanya in the headlining fight of UFC 300.

The newly crowned champion's manager, Danny Rubenstein, recently appeared on The Anik & Florian Show, where he discussed his client potentially featuring on April's pay-per-view card. He said this:

"[Dricus du Plessis] now gets pay-per-view points. And just the number 300 alone is going to add 250 or 300,000 buys, just the number. It doesn't matter who's on the card. So there's a huge incentive for him to be healthy and make a play to try and headline UFC 300. He wants to do it... It's just about making sure he's healthy."

Catch Dricus du Plessis' manager's below (46:35):