Dricus Du Plessis knows that, for better or worse, his intense rivalry with Israel Adesanya has come to an emotional boiling point and even the middleweight champion appeared surprised at this morning’s viral exchange.
One of the loudest and most dramatic UFC pre-fight press conferences of the year came to a fierce head earlier this morning, as the former champion broke down into tears over comments made by the South African.
What happened at the UFC 305 press conference?
At the UFC 305 pre-fight press conference, the crowd was firmly on Israel Adesanya’s side as they cheered every word from ‘Stylebender’ and offered only jeers to the South African stepping onto enemy territory.
Yet it was ‘Stillknocks’ who hit the key nerve when he questioned Adesanya’s upbringing, with the legendary striker breaking down into tears over the comments; as he pointed to his mother and father in the front row.
“He touched a subject there because I do this for my family, I do this for the people I love and how I will fight for you forever… Watch this, look, I’m a f****** human being I am a man, I can cry and whoop your ass at the same time.
“I feel the love from the crowd, first time I fought here [UFC[ 221, that was February 2018, that was me making my dream come true, Sunday, I’m going to kill your dreams b****, I’m gonna f****** kill your dreams!”
Dricus Du Plessis and fellow fighters react to UFC 305 press conference
Following the dramatic pre-fight press conference coming to its emotional conclusion, the UFC cameras were quick to follow each of the athletes backstage, with Dricus Du Plessis’ immediate reaction being one of surprise.
“Oh [that was] amazing, I guess, geez, I don’t know what it is – [Adesanya is] the second man, grown man, crying after a press conference… Sorry about that, I didn’t mean it like that.”
Despite offering a slight apology, only a few short minutes later and DDP would take to social media to continue his verbal assault on the former champion.
“Come on guys stop crying at the press conferences it’s not that serious,” he wrote on X, with a laughing emoji.
The South African later posted an image of Adesanya crying at the press conference with the caption: “I win the screenshot game,” – Adesanya himself has yet to respond online.
Whether the intense exchange has actually swayed any fans into changing their predictions or not, those UFC 305 fighters involved were quick to celebrate the energy from the RAC Arena faithful.
Australia’s own Steve Erceg noted that the atmosphere was “kind of what I expected, the Perth crowd are nuts [and] Sunday is going to be an amazing, amazing experience and I can’t wait to put on a show for them.”
“F***** the crowd is on” hailed Tai Tuivasa as he exclaimed, “Let’s go baby – ready to rock!”
“Keep this energy guys, Sunday morning [you’re all] going to be crying,” warned Mateusz Gamrot, with regional hero Dan Hooker noting that the crowd is “Pumped and fired up” to watch the CKB boys return to action.
On social media, it appears that the majority of fans are seeing the press conference as a ‘win’ for Dricus Du Plessis, although there are plenty of Adesanya fans who are hinting that DDP may have awoken a sleeping beast.
Israel Adesanya vs Dricus Du Plessis goes down this weekend, live from the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.
- EXCLUSIVE: Adesanya reveals where his feud with Du Plessis ranks among the greatest rivalries of his career