UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis is confused as to why his rumored UFC 305 fight against Israel Adesanya hasn’t been booked yet.
After beating Sean Strickland at UFC 297 this past January, it became extremely likely that Dricus Du Plessis‘ first middleweight title defense would come against Israel Adesanya.
Strickland campaigned for a rematch after claiming the scorecards were incorrect, but the UFC decided to book him against Paulo Costa at UFC 302, leaving the door open for Du Plessis vs Adesanya.
Earlier last month, the South African teased on his Instagram that a fight with Adesanya had been agreed, stating, “Looks like someone wants another beating in Aus”.
UFC 305 is scheduled to take place on August 18th from the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Despite that, the fight is still yet to be confirmed by the promotion, and it has caused some confusion for the 30-year-old champion.
Dricus Du Plessis confused by UFC 305 fight delay
There is a well-documented history between Du Plessis and Adesanya, and they were originally supposed to fight before the New Zealander lost his title to Sean Strickland. Du Plessis believes Adesanya only has two years left in the sport and wants to add his name to his resume.
“I don’t see why we are not fighting, I mean I understand why we are not in South Africa at the moment, although that’d have been great, but Adesanya doesn’t have a lot of years left in the sport.” Du Plessis told The Sias du Plessis show.
‘Stillknocks’ explained why he wants to fight ‘The Last Stylebender’, admitting that the main reason is that he is now earning PPV points, and wants to maximize how much he earns from that.
“Now I’m fighting for PPV points, what fight do the people want to see, at the end of the day, I’m an entertainer that’s why my fault style is like that, I know what the people want to see and I go and I do it. Fighting Israel Adesanya is by far the fight people want to see (most).
“Fighting him is going to cement my legacy, it’s going to be another feather in my cap, beating a guy like Robert Whittaker and becoming a world champion and then beating one of the greats like Israel Adesanya, how are you not motivated by that?”
Du Plessis lays out his plan to become double champion
Despite having not defended his 185lb title yet, the 30-year-old has laid out his plan to become double champion in just a few fights.
Khamzat Chimaev takes on Robert Whittaker on June 22nd and Du Plessis believes that if ‘Borz’ wins that fight, he will fight Chimaev after beating Adesanya.
“That double champ status is 100% something that I (want), but also I’m not someone who’s just going to say ‘Now I want to fight for the (light heavyweight title)’. I believe beating Adesanya, if Khamzat beats Whittaker, beating Khamzat that earns you a (shot) at light heavyweight.” Du Plessis claimed.