UFC 305: Israel Adesanya Rips ‘Privileged’ Dricus du Plessis for ‘Colonist Mindset'

Adesanya on du Plessis: "He lives behind the f****** gates of his privileged life in South Africa..."

Jasmin Frank-USA TODAY Sports

Israel Adesanya isn't the biggest fan of opponent Dricus Du Plessis.

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It's been almost a year since we've seen the former UFC Middleweight Champion, who took the longest layoff of his career following his title loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. The belt's changed hands in Adesanya's time away with du Plessis becoming South Africa's first UFC Champion.

Adesanya enters his 12th-straight title fight against du Plessis in the main event of UFC 305 this weekend from Perth, Australia, attempting to reclaim his middleweight championship for a third time.

What Started It All

There's a lot to be said about the matchup and the storylines surrounding it, with du Plessis riling up Adesanya in the past for comments he made about becoming "the" African fighter in the UFC, making UFC 305 all the more interesting...

"Did those belts ever go to Africa? As far as I know, it came to America and New Zealand," du Plessis said of Nigerian-born champs Kamaru Usman and Adesanya at UFC 285 media day. "I'm gonna take a belt to Africa. I'm the African fighter in the UFC. Myself and Cameron [Saaiman], we breathe the African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa. We African born. We're African raised. We still reside in Africa. We train out of Africa. That's an African champion, and that's who I'll be."

ADESANYA ENTERS THE OCTAGON WITH DU PLESSIS #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/WBBsXOEuyE

— UFC (@ufc) July 9, 2023

Adesanya: I Just Want Him To Take Accountability For His Remarks

Of course, Du Plessis isn't the first champ out of Africa with Adesanya, Kamaru Usman and Cameroon's Francis Ngannou, with Adesanya taking issue with du Plessis' initial comments in the lead-up to their fight at UFC 305.

"It's not personal-personal. I just want him to take accountability for his remarks," Adesanya told TMZ of his heated build-up with du Plessis. "Dricus is saying 'I trained in Africa. I do this in Africa...' And people like [Abdul] Razak [Alhassan] and myself who are forced to flee our own country because of a better opportunity. He will never understand that because he lives behind the f****** gates of his privileged life in South Africa, and he's able to do that there."

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

"We Paved The Way For Him..."

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Adesanya moved to New Zealand with his family at the age of 10 whereas Ngannou fled his home of Cameroon multiple times in search of a better life.

"Someone like Francis who had to cross the desert to go overseas to go train. You can't call him not a real African champion because he didn't train in Africa. I was like, bro, are you f****** kidding?" Adesanya said of du Plessis' remarks. "The guy got sent back out to the desert 6, 7 times to go die, and he survived."

One of the best parts about yesterday was that Francis Ngannou included Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman in his entrance.

To the world, they’re the three Kings.

To each other, they’re just three brothers. pic.twitter.com/0JAue2Drdo

— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) October 29, 2023

While his fellow champions from Africa don't hold the gold anymore, Adesanya says:

"We paved the way for [du Plessis] and then he comes out there and tries to take it all for himself.

"I wonder where he got that [mindset] from... Like, 'Oh, I see this, and I want it all for myself.' Like, 'Oh, look at this beautiful land... I want it all for myself.' What kind of mindset is that? What kind of mindset is it that you see three African champions and you're gonna be the fourth one you could have said, 'it'll be a great honor to be out of the legends of African champions that have been in the UFC. He tries to say, take it all for himself.

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

"That's a colonist mindset, and he doesn't understand the error of his ways, but I will show him the way," Adesanya concluded.

Catch "The Last Stylebender" in action against UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 305 on Aug. 17 (Aug. 18, locally) in Perth, Australia - live on pay-per-view.

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