Israel Adesanya recently expressed his thoughts on Dricus du Plessis following UFC 305. Adesanya spoke highly of du Plessis and disclosed their interaction inside the octagon.
After a lengthy break from fighting, Adesanya made his highly anticipated return to the octagon at UFC 305 in a middleweight title fight against du Plessis. The pay-per-view event took place this past Saturday at the RAC Arena in Perth.
Adesanya was expected to take on du Plessis, which is not surprising considering the fierce rivalry between the two fighters. Du Plessis' prior comments on Adesanya's African heritage and 'The Three Kings' have sparked verbal barbs on social media and during interviews. It was therefore anticipated that their title fight would be intense.
In the UFC 305 main event, du Plessis successfully defended his middleweight title by submitting Adesanya with a rear-naked choke in the fourth round. With the submission win, 'Stillknocks' became the first fighter to accomplish that feat.
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During the post-fight press conference, Adesanya shared his opinions on du Plessis' victory and stated that he is not eager for a rematch:
''I'm not really desperate to get it back. He [du Plessis] gave me a lot of respect in there, and I gave him respect back. And I already knew he was a fan of me, but yes, now I am a fan of his...so respect is always there and Dricus is an African champion.''
While praising du Plessis, Adesanya revealed their conversation inside the octagon after the fight. He said:
''Look, we can hangout, just so you know, we have to fight again and I'm gonna kill you and he's like,' I'm gonna kill you too'.''
Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below:
After the fight, du Plessis apologized for his remarks and thanked the Nigerian-born Kiwi for his commitment to the sport. The reigning champion also emphasized that he never meant to cast doubt on Adesanya's ancestry.