Israel Adesanya revealed where his rivalry with Dricus Du Plessis may have started. On social media this past weekend, Adesanya shared some old footage of Du Plessis sparring Alexander Volkanovski in 2016. As the pair spars, Du Plessis collides with Adesanya. The two share a brief stare down and get back to training and the video ends.
The feud between the two grew at UFC 297, as Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland in a razor close split decision to become the new UFC middleweight champion. To no surprise when the South African champion was handed the mic, Adesanya was the name that still remains in his crosshairs.
“There was another guy that tried to take my shine. He lost his shine, now I have your shine. He didn’t get in the cage tonight, but Israel Adesanya get your a** back in the UFC so we can settle the score,” Du Plessis said in his UFC 297 Octagon interview.
Israel Adesayna and Dricus du Plessis Intense Sparring Session
With every changing move inside the UFC middleweight, it seems the stars continue to align for Du Plessis and Adesanya to finally duke it out inside the Octagon for UFC gold. The two were scheduled to fight at UFC 293, however Du Plessis was forced out due to injury. After another social media tirade by Adesanya, Strickland stepped in to face ‘The Last Stylebender’. Strickland defeated Adesanya in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history and forced Adesanya into a hiatus from the sport. Flash forward to today, and Adesanya seemingly has that urge to potentially come back and face off against his biggest rival to date.
In the comment section with Adesanya’s aforementioned Instagram post, his own teammate hinted at an earlier than expected return stating “Return of the king coming soon??”. While Adesanya in the heat of the moment mentioned coming back in 2027, this title fight decision could see the former UFC middleweight champion come back much earlier.
Du Plessis’ Title Win
While it makes too much sense to try and book Du Plessis and Adesanya to face off for the middleweight title, the way the fight went down at UFC 297 doesn’t make it a guarantee. After five razor close rounds, Du Plessis won the fight via split decision. All five rounds were razor close, and many people thought Strickland did enough to come out victorious, even UFC President Dana White.
“We were looking at how the media had scored it, and it was right down the middle. I had it 2-2 going into the last round. And I thought Strickland won the last round. The guys sitting at the same table had it the other way, it was a close fight,” White said at the UFC 297 post fight press conference. “I thought Strickland looked great in the first two rounds. I mean the jab was f****** beautiful. You don’t see jabs like that in MMA, and the jab did what they’re supposed to do… both of [Du Plessis’] eyes were swollen shut. He slowed down in the third and fourth, and Du Plessis kept going forward.”
Strickland
Strickland also took to social media to share his thoughts on the title fight.
“Big thanks to everyone who supported me!!!!!!!!! Took a headbutt that split my eye open, took a couple rounds to adjust to the blood running in my eyes…. Sucks to lose that way but this is the game! I thought I won even not being able to see out of my left eye but that’s life! Onto the next! Told you I’d bleed for you,” Strickland said on Instagram.
With the UFC’s track record to run instant rematches this fight seemingly checks all the boxes that usually lead to seeing a rematch in a few months. With Adesanya still on the sidelines while also still having a previous call out from Alex Pereira, it will be interesting to see how the UFC middleweight division progresses after this past Saturday.
Who do you think Du Plessis’ first title defense should be against? Should Israel Adesanya get the call?
