Dricus Du Plessis is not interested in fighting Israel Adesanya anymore – at least for now.
Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) lost his middleweight title in a stunning upset to Sean Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) in this past Saturday’s UFC 293 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
After knocking out Robert Whittaker, Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) was slated to face Adesanya at UFC 293 but couldn’t make it due to a foot injury. With Adesanya losing, Du Plessis may have lost out on his opportunity to settle his beef with Adesanya, but the South African isn’t keen on fighting this version of “The Last Stylebender” anyway. He has now turned his attention to challenging Strickland.
“Me & @SStricklandMMA had the biggest upsets of 2023 so let’s settle this like men I’m ready. After that @stylebender can get a hiding in Africa. I don’t want to fight the amateur that fought on Sat I want to beat the best Adesanya, take some time and get your sh*t together first.”
Me & @SStricklandMMA had the biggest upsets of 2023 so let’s settle this like men I’m ready. After that @stylebender can get a hiding in Africa I don’t want to fight the amateur that fought on Sat I want to beat the best Adysanya, take some time and get your shit together first.
— Dricus Du Plessis (@dricusduplessis) September 11, 2023
Adesanya was dropped in Round 1 and could never get going as he was constantly pressured by Strickland. UFC president Dana White, who was not happy with Du Plessis not making it to the fight against Adesanya, thinks Adesanya should get an immediate rematch against Strickland. If that happens, that would put a major halt to Du Plessis’ plans.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.
