"It’s not up to [Dricus] Du Plessis" - Coach comments on Israel Adesanya's title shot amid rumors of UFC 305 main event 

It appears Israel Adesanya is ready to make his return to the octagon. Adesanya's longtime coach Eugene Bareman recently opened up on his star pupil's future and addressed his rumored title shot against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305.

The UFC is reportedly gearing up to host another event in Australia later this year and many believe the Du Plessis-Adesanya fight could take place at UFC 305 in Perth in August.

Adesanya faced Sean Strickland in a middleweight title fight at UFC 293 last September. While most expected Adesanya to breeze past Strickland, 'Tarzan' shocked the world by outpointing the Nigerian-born Kiwi over five rounds to snatch the 185-pound strap away. Strickland later lost the title to Du Plessis at UFC 297.

In the aftermath, 'The Last Stylebender' announced that he'll take time away from competition to focus on physically and mentally recuperating. He even teased a return timeline of 2027 despite being among the most active champions during his reign.

In a recent interview with the NZ Herald, Adesanya's coach confirmed that 'The Last Stylebender' is ready to return and is looking to face du Plessis next to reclaim the middleweight championship. Bareman spoke about the Du Plessis-Adesanya fight not going down at UFC 300 and said:

"Israel will be fighting for the title next. The date, I’m not sure. Give us a date and we’ll take it. We’re sitting ready to go... Israel’s pretty adamant that he has to fight for the title. It’s not up to Du Plessis. If that was the case, I wish Israel as a champion had those sorts of choices. The truth is, he probably didn’t.”

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Dricus du Plessis calls out Israel Adesanya for first UFC middleweight title defense

Dricus Du Plessis recently expressed his willingness to face Israel Adesanya next and called out the Nigerian-born Kiwi to settle their grudge match. It's no secret that the two men have no love for each other and have clashed online several times. They also shared a heated faceoff in the cage after Du Plessis' impressive knockout win against Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.

In a recent interview with The Hustlers Corner SA (via MMA Fighting), 'Stillknocks' reiterated his intention to fight Adesanya and said:

"So you claim you want to drag my carcass around in South Africa, as you said. So be a man of your word, and let’s do it... Who do I wanna fight? I don’t care, I’m the champion. I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me. But what I want in my heart is to fight the guy that the people want to see me fight."

Watch the full episode below: