Dricus Du Plessis still stands by his statement about being the UFC’s first African champion.
Reigning middleweight titleholder Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will look to make his first defense in the UFC 305 headliner Aug. 17 when he takes on former champion Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
The bad blood stemmed from Du Plessis claiming he’s the first true African UFC champion, disregarding Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou, who he argues did not reside or train out on the continent when claiming UFC gold. That resulted in a racially charged faceoff at UFC 290 in July 2023, after Du Plessis finished Robert Whittaker.
