Ex-UFC champ explains pressure on Israel Adesanya to perform against Dricus du Plessis: "He don't want to lose to Dricus"

Israel Adesanya is, perhaps, under more pressure than he has ever been ahead of his UFC 305 title fight with newly-minted middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis. That is, at least, according to former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier, who once held both light heavyweight and heavyweight gold.

The UFC Hall of Famer joined MMA Fighting's The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast, where he touched on the dynamics of the grudge match between Adesanya and du Plessis. Cormier, of course, is no stranger to heated feuds, having had a memorable rivalry with fellow all-time great Jon Jones.

The animosity between Adesanya and du Plessis seems to run deeper, with 'DC' agreeing with MMA Fighting's Damon Martin that the South African phenom is the last person Adesanya would be fine losing to.

"No, he don't want to lose to that dude. So, yeah, he don't want to lose to Dricus [du Plessis]. I love how intense it gets between these guys. I like bad blood fights. I'm not going to lie to you. I love when it's a bad blood fight, and this one has all the sh*t that I love. Those guys hate each other."

Check out Daniel Cormier's comments about Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya below (33:50):

There isn't just pressure on Adesanya, though. His opponent will be under tremendous pressure himself, as UFC 305 marks the first defense of a title that many believe he captured with an unconvincing performance against Sean Strickland, who some regard as the victim of a robbery.

Moreover, du Plessis is already being spoken of as a tailor-made matchup for Adesanya. So, while Adesanya is under pressure to win at a pivotal point in his career against a hated rival, du Plessis is under pressure to prove his detractors wrong.

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The origins of the Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya feud

The enmity between Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis stems from a time when both men were in opposite positions. Adesanya was the middleweight champion, while du Plessis was still determined to capture the title. Their feud started when du Plessis predicted a future championship win for himself.

When doing so, he proclaimed himself a truer representative of African MMA than Adesanya, which he felt justified in asserting given that his family has lived in South Africa for generations, he was born in South Africa, and both lives and trains there, whereas Adesanya emigrated from Nigeria to New Zealand.

Check out the exchange between Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis:

Naturally, Adesanya took issue with du Plessis' statement, and the two haven't seen eye to eye since.