“He’d be an African then” - Israel Adesanya’s ‘racist’ pledge to beat Dricus du Plessis until he’s black sparks social media outcry

MMA fans grilled Israel Adesanya after he made a polarizing statement against Dricus du Plessis.

In a video posted by @xcellentmma on Instagram, 'The Last Stylebender' said:

"I'm here now. I'm gonna f*ck this guy up, I'm gonna torture this guy. I'm gonna do it just like my ancestors... He'd be an African then... f*ck I mean you don't have to create division, this isn't the time for division. He could've definitely got the fight without talking all that sh*t but you be careful what you wish for, you got what you want. So yeah, he's next and I'm gonna f*cking beat him until he's black."

Check out the Instagram post below:

Many fans didn't seem happy with what the middleweight champion had to say.

@woofwoof2230 wasn't impressed with Adesanya's statement and expressed their disappointment by saying:

"This is insanely cringe."

A fan reaction to Adesanya's statement against du Plessis

Another user @miljandjukanovic questioned the nature of the middleweight champion's comments by writing:

"And this is not racist?"

A fan reacting to the Instagram post

One fan called out Adesanya's confusion between nationality and race by commenting:

"As a massive Izzy fan, he took a conversation about nationality and turned into a conversation about race."

Another fan reaction to Adesanya's comments

Check out more fan reactions below:

Fan reactions to Israel Adesanya's statement on Dricus du Plessis

The bad blood between the duo further escalated after Dricus du Plessis defeated Robert Whittaker by second-round TKO at UFC 290. Israel Adesanya entered the octagon and went on an X-rated N-word rant, confronting du Plessis.

Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) was born in Nigeria but lives and trains in New Zealand. Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) was born in South Africa and has lived there his whole life. This made 'Stillknocks' claim to be the true African fighter, causing tensions between him and 'The Last Stylebender'.

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Dricus du Plessis has a fight plan set for Israel Adesanya

Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya are possibly set for a showdown in a UFC middleweight title bout at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia. The South African, after scoring a dominant victory at UFC 290, shared his game plan to beat Adesanya:

"I'll knock him out just like I did tonight. We saw his fight with Alex Pereira. If I get him to the floor, it is not even a fight... If I just get my hands on him, it's not even a fight. I will manhandle him."

Check out the tweet below: