It seems that Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis won’t be facing off at UFC 293 after all.
Du Plessis achieved the most significant victory of his career by beating Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. Right after the fight, the South African and Adesanya engaged in a fiery exchange in the center of the Octagon.
This intense face-off at UFC 290 set up a potential showdown between the two middleweights. However, Adesanya believes that this encounter may have given Du Plessis some hesitation about taking him on.
“Now he doesn’t want wanna fight. Even after [UFC 290], he’s like ‘Oh bro, all you had to do was put some gloves on, we could have got it on right there.’ B***h a**, f*** you wouldn’t have. ‘Cause guess what, he didn’t want it…People were like ‘Oh, he’s so classy walking away. He’s so [classy].’ I’m like ‘Bro, he didn’t even walk away. He felt me.” He didn’t wanna feel me,” Adesanya
Nevertheless, Adesanya acknowledged Du Plessis’ skills and achievements inside the Octagon. As such, he is willing to exercise patience and wait for the opportunity to face the talented South African in the cage.
“He’s not a scared man, he’s a tough dude. He’s very crafty, and he’s got a good team behind him. Smart team. I don’t think he’s a scared man, but I’ll tell you he’s scared of me. You know when you look in someone’s eyes, you just know straight away. He didn’t call me to the cage, I stepped in the cage myself.
“I didn’t even see him call me…I stepped into the cage because I made this s*** happen. This motherf***er – I hope, I was hoping he’d f***ing step up. But he’s a b***h, and I’ll tell you right now. Keep training. Keep training. I’ve got something for you’re a**, so keep training,” Adesanya
As Du Plessis is unavailable to challenge Adesanya, there has been speculation that Sean Strickland could be the next contender. With that being said, Adesanya’s next opponent cannot come soon enough.