The UFC middleweight champion believes Adesanya’s decision to return to the sport after knocking out Alex Pereira last year will haunt him forever.
Ahead of their highly anticipated clash at UFC 305 next month, the feud between middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and fan-favorite former king Israel Adesanya is certainly heating up nicely as ‘Stillknocks’ takes aim at his opponent’s decision to return to the sport.
Dricus Du Plessis believes Adesanya should have retired on top
Last week, the pair had an incredibly tense faceoff at the UFC 305 pre-fight press conference with Du Plessis claiming victory as he met Adesanya’s eyelevel in the staredown, noting that ‘Stylebender’ was shorter than he expected.
Speaking after the event via the Hello Sport YouTube channel, Du Plessis once again argued that Adesanya secretly wants no part in fighting for world championship glory following his recent layoff.
“He knows it and the world knows it, he’s done great things in this sport- [but] when it comes to as big as he’s going to get, he has [already] been as big as he’s going to get in this sport.
“When it comes to the title defenses, the winning streaks, that will never come again because he doesn’t have the time, so I think his biggest achievement for him personally was beating Alex Pereira.”
Du Plessis believes that given the enormous stakes surrounding his iconic rivalry with Pereira as well as the manner in which Adesanya viciously ended their rematch, ‘Stylebender’ should have walked away from the sport on top.
“He had this nemesis who’s beaten him multiple times and after that fight, he was ready to call it quits – that’s what I saw in his eyes as well.
“[He’s] trying to convince me but more so trying to convince himself that he still wants to do this and that he still has what it takes to be the best fighter in the world.”
Du Plessis and Adesanya will finally get the chance to turn words to action in August, with the South African champion noting that “As soon as start asking yourself that question [about walking away], you’re in a dark place.”
Time off is a necessary evil, but so is Dricus Du Plessis
Following Israel Adesanya’s shock loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293, the former middleweight champion would opt to take some well-deserved time away from the sport for rest and recovery.
Interestingly, whilst Du Plessis believes that taking such a break from MMA is a necessary evil when it comes to maintaining your own physical health, the time away can also take a significant toll on your mental fortitude.
“The time off is not that concerning, when I had my debut fight in the UFC it was during COVID and South Africa was under lockdown pretty bad… I wasn’t allowed to leave the country or get a visa for 10 months; I had another fight, and we were locked down again for another year.
“So that time off is not necessarily the problem, it can be good it can be bad depending on how you approach it – it’s getting back into it and the mental aspect of that is far more important than the physical aspect.”
The South African brawler explained how fighters know that they still have the hunger to compete when they get tired of resting, before aptly noting that the problems arise “when you get that comfortability.
“When you get to that position where you are so comfortable where he said he’s at peace and happy with what he has, it’s a dangerous place to be because this sport is chaos.
“And chaos is the exact opposite of peace, if you’re at peace and in the octagon with me, it’s going to be a problem because I bring chaos.”
Dricus Du Plessis versus Israel Adesanya tops the bill at UFC 305, scheduled for August 17 live from the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.