“He has to face the dance” - The truth behind Israel Adesanya's animosity towards Dricus Du Plessis

Israel Adesanya got into the Octagon at UFC 290 to confront Dricus Du Plessis. Later, on Twitter, he explained the animosity between the pair.

'The Last Stylebender' and Dricus Du Plessis have a history. The South African fighter has previously called out Adesanya for not being truly 'African' and claiming that he was the only real African fighter in the division and the rest just called themselves African despite not staying in the continent or training on it. Adesanya shared a comment on Twitter that explained his hatred towards Du Plessis:

"He had to stir the pot and talk about being the 'real African champion' because he trains and breathes African air, knowing full well his history and simultaneously discounting the real life struggles of other 3 great AFRICAN champions because they live outside African......Now, he has to face the dance. I'm sure Kamaru and Francis are counting on Izzy to teach him an ancestral lesson."

Take a look at the tweet:

According to Adesanya, Dricus Du Plessis was trying to create drama by calling Adesanya and fighters like Kamaru Usman "not real Africans." The New Zealand native will look to dish out some punishment to the South African if they do ever end up fighting each other.

Dricus Du Plessis says Israel Adesanya is behaving like a clown and not a champion

Dricus Du Plessis won the biggest fight of his life as he beat former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. The South African had an intense moment with the current champion Israel Adesanya in the ring and in his post-fight press conference, he spoke about how he wanted to fight 'The Last Stylebender' next. When asked if he was prepared to face him, he said:

"I'm prepared for everything, everything he says.....He's behaving like a clown in there. You know, that's not how a champion behaves. That's not how a man behaves. He's behaving like a child, conduct yourself like a champion. There's people looking up to you and you're behaving like that, nah."

Take a look at the video (Quotes from 0:20 onwards):

Dricus Du Plessis made it very clear that he wants to fight Israel Adesanya next and based on the champion's reaction, it may well be his next title defense. Du Plessis has made a name for himself in the division, and beating the former champion puts him as the favorite for a title shot.