Israel Adesanya came under fire after hurling racial slurs at super middleweight contender Dricos du Plessis.
“The Last Stylebender” was removed just weeks ago from the elimination of longtime Brazilian rival Alex Pereira at UFC 287. With the 185-pound crown now in his grasp, the City Kickboxing producer is on the lookout for his next challenger. Enter Dricus Du Plessis, a South African-born fighter who is riding an impressive seven-fight winning streak in the division, defeating notables including Brad Tavares, Darren Till and Derek Bronson.
While ‘Stillknocks’ has gained a fair amount of fans with his high-octane style of fighting within octagonDu Plessis has found himself the subject of several headlines after digging into Israel Adesanya and his African heritage.
“Have those belts been to Africa before?” Du Plessis grilled reporters at the UFC 285 media event. “As far as I know, they’ve come to America and New Zealand. I’m going to take a belt to Africa. I’m the African fighter in the UFC. Myself and Cameron [Saaiman, Du Plessis’ teammate]We breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa, we are born in Africa, we are raised in Africa. We are still based in Africa, and we train from Africa. This is an African hero, and that’s who I’m going to be.”
Israel Adesanya didn’t take kindly to Du Plessis’ comments and responded in a way that made many fans turn on the once celebrated world middleweight champion. Go to his YouTube channel gamblerAdesanya delivered a diatribe directed at “Stillknocks” that included multiple uses of a particular ethnic slur.
“I’m going f*cking I take him to school, in the octagon, and in history,” said Adesanya. “What it does is create division. You can’t know your history, I never asked it as an African, because you were born in Africa. South Africa. Of course you are African. I never doubted it. But who is this device to tell me who I am? Who is the f*ck Kamaru , who is f*ck Ngannou? I’m like, ‘Are you stupid? As a result of colonialism, you’re trying to tell me who the hell I am.’
“You can take the boy out of Africa, but you can never take Africa out of the boy. I never did that to him. I never discredited him as an African. Well, there you go. Cool. You want to fight? Cool. But the fact that as a crack, to tell me who Me, that person has bullied me, and that’s why it’s my next fight. I don’t want to fight anyone else. This p*sses me off” (h/t online mail)
Israel Adesanya has already asked to fight Dricus Du Plessis in South Africa
Israel Adesanya also revealed that he has already asked the UFC to do a fight with Dricus Du Plessis in Africa. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but before Stillknocks can make his shot at the middleweight champ, he will need to get past former title holder and perennial contender Robert Whitaker. The two are set to equal a middleweight title eliminator at UFC 290 on July 8.
“I tried to do it in South Africa, but it looks like it might not work,” said Adesanya. “But again, I told Dana, you beat COVID before any other major sports league on the field or on the field, you guys did it. You can do anything. I still think they can. I want to do it in South Africa or somewhere What in Africa.
“Like I said, he created division. I don’t like it. He didn’t have to do that. He didn’t have to do that. You don’t understand, I’m here now. I’m going to f*ck this guy. I’m going to torture this guy. Not You have to create a division. This isn’t the time for that sh*t. You definitely could have gotten the fight without talking all that shit. Well, be careful what you wish for. You got what you want. He’s next. I’m going to beat him to black.” “
Israel Adesanya was born in Lagos, Nigeria before moving with his parents to Rotorua, New Zealand when he was 10 years old. “Stylebender” continues to hang his hat in the Land of the Long White Cloud to this day.