The intense rivalry between UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and title challenger Israel Adesanya is reaching new heights.
If there wasn’t bad blood already before the UFC 305 press conference in Australia, there certainly is now with fans and fighters alike chomping at the bit to see the pair of superstars finally putting words into action.
Fans judge Du Plessis ‘won’ the first press conference battle
Earlier this week, middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya engaged in a lively back-and-forth at the UFC 305 pre-fight press conference; exchanging some subtle, and some not-so-subtle jabs at one another.
The key clip going viral here is from Adesanya claiming that ‘Stillknocks’ had disrespected ‘The Three Kings’, i.e., Kamaru Usman, Francis Ngannou, and Adesanya.
‘Stylebender’ attempted to gain traction with his own ominous message surrounding who was the first African-born champion, “I don’t give a f*** where he’s from but I’ll show him who he is.”
Yet it was Du Plessis who managed to turn the tide of public opinion as he quipped: “Whatever that means, I’m glad you took up golf because that’s a retirement sport – I can understand you start playing golf.”
Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya react to intense faceoff
Following their back-and-forth on the microphone, the two middleweight warriors squared off in a seriously intense staredown, neither fighter willing to take the first step back.
Yet it was the height difference, or rather lack thereof, that seems to have caught the attention of fans with Du Plessis at eyelevel with the former champion despite the UFC database having Israel Adesanya being three inches taller than ‘Stillknocks’.
Unsurprisingly, Du Plessis hinted that this was one of the key things he’s taking away from both the press conference and faceoff.
“He’s trying to convince himself that he still wants to be here and I’m just here to let him know it’s okay, it’s over… Call it a day, call it a career.
“He’s shorter than I thought, so that makes it worse for him because I’m a thick boy.”
The middleweight champion was delighted with the energy in the room and seemingly getting the better of Adesanya at the faceoff, noting how “That’s the feeling we do this for you know, getting that excitement.
“That’s exactly what he’s lacking. He’s lost that hunger for the game; he’s lost that excitement for it. The day I lose that excitement is the day that I’ll call it a career. And believe me, there’s a lot of excitement in this heart.”
To his credit, Adesanya himself took to social media to point out that “He’s wearing pumps” during the faceoff, suggesting that he still firmly holds the height advantage over the South African brawler.
“That was awesome,” shared the former UFC middleweight king on the faceoff, explaining how he’s thrilled to feel the intensity of such an enormous return to the octagon coming into view.
“You know, I wasn’t really like ‘Oh what’s going to happen? I was just like ‘We’ll get there’ and then when we got there it was like riding a bike.
“He’s still here,” defined Adesanya, pointing to his chest and adding “We’ve been here before and we have, we’ve f***** been here before.”
UFC 305: Dricus Du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya is scheduled to go down live from the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia on August 17.