Israel Adesanya sounds off on Dricus du Plessis’ criticism of his African roots

Israel Adesanya sounded off on Dricus du Plessis's criticism of his African roots and put the middleweight contender on notice.

During his appearance on The MMA Hour, Adesanya noted that he took offense to du Plessis questioning his African roots. The South African insinuated that he is more African than the Kiwi. Adesanya mentioned that he felt it was disrespectful and even suggested that Du Plessis could be in for a surprise if he took an ancestry test.

He said:

"How the f*ck you gonna question me, Francis [Ngannou] and Kamaru's [Usman] blackness, our Africaness. Who the f*ck are you?...You ever hear of Ancestry and Me?...If you do Ancestry and Me on me, I know where the f*ck I'm from. If you do it on him [du Plessis], he'll find out where the f*ck he's from and I'll tell you, it wouldn't say South Africa."

'Izzy' also brought up that he's hopeful that 'Stillknocks' earns a quick and decisive win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 because he is eager to fight him. He mentioned that he will be ready to go in September and left no speculation as to what he intends to do, saying:

"I'm gonna manifest him winning this fight in the first round and when he does, I'm gonna be right there in the cage so he can turn around in September and no bullsh*t, 'I'm hurt,' this and that. Nope, we're gonna fight in Sydney in September...I will show him who the f*ck I am."

It will be interesting to see whether a title shot against Adesanya relatively soon after their fight will result in du Plessis and Whittaker putting more pressure on themselves to finish their opponent early.

---

Israel Adesanya describes his beef with Jon Jones

Israel Adesanya hasn't shied away from sharing his opinion and recently opened up about his beef with Jon Jones.

During the aforementioned appearance, the reigning UFC middleweight champion noted that he had never had a conversation with the heavyweight champion and was surprised when he heard him talk about him in the past. He mentioned that although they don't like each other, there is still mutual respect, saying:

"Yeah, we've beefed, I don't like him, he doesn't like me, but we respect each other's skills and I was a fan before I was ever in the UFC."

A bout between Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones would definitely be lucrative for all involved, but the weight discrepancy makes it unlikely at the moment.