Conor McGregor‘s withdrawal from UFC 303 has been a disaster for the UFC in more ways than one. While the cancellation itself was a huge event, things got even worse as UFC CEO Dana White apparently committed a minor mistake while announcing the replacement bout for UFC 303.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
During the video, Dana White had the board with fighter names and matchups behind him, as he does in all fight announcement videos. However, in a few video frames, keen-eyed MMA fans caught a glimpse of other boards with other matchups for other cards in the background.
And one of the names visible on the board was former champion Israel Adesanya. While there has been a rumor that he will fight middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis on UFC 305 in Perth on August 18, the name on the board has seemingly confirms that Du Plessis-Adesanya will take place at UFC 305.
Seems like the UFC may have leaked the #UFC305 card in Perth in their #UFC303 update video 🤔 The names that can be made out are Israel Adesanya in the main-event, Song Yadong in the co-main event, and other names such as JDM, Steve Erceg, Drakkar Klose, etc. #UFC #MMA
However, until an official announcement is made by the UFC and Dana White, Du Plessis-Adesanya remains in the realm of hypotheticals. And amid the buzz of the fight between them, let us take a look at the beef between them, which has been brewing for the past year.
Why do Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis detest each other?
Israel Adesanya and Dircus Du Pessis have very real and palpable bad blood between them. The controversy between them started last year, when Du Plessis, who hails from South Africa, made comments that implied he would be more of an African champion than the then-African champions of the UFC: Kamaru Usman, Francis Ngannou, and Israel Adesanya. His reasoning was simple, since neither of the three lived or trained in Africa, while Du Plessis did so, he would actually bring the UFC title to Africa, if he became champion.
Israel Adesanya, then the middleweight champ, was incensed at these comments, and after a bit of back and forth, their bad blood reached its zenith during UFC 290. At the July 2023 card, Israel Adesanya entered the octagon to face off with Du Plessis, who had just knocked out Robert Whittaker. Upon coming face to face with ‘DDP’, ‘Izzy’ went on a bizarre, expletive-filled rant.
The South African was offered a shot at the middleweight crown and an opportunity to settle his beef with Adesanya at UFC 293. However, he turned it down due to an injury. Sean Strickland, of course, went on to shock the UFC world and beat Adesanya to become the new champ, before dropping his title to ‘DDP’ a few months later. And now, it seems UFC 305 will be the place where Adesanya and Du Plessis finally finish their unfinished business.
What are your thoughts on the topic?
