Israel Adesanya explains post-fight rant with Dricus du Plessis
- Doug Mattushek
- 19 July 2023
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya opened up about his expletive-laden rant following Dricus du Plessis' win at UFC 290.
Very few gave the durable South African a sniff against Robert Whittaker, but an impressive second-round TKO victory silenced some doubters and set up a potential title match with Adesanya.
The unpredictable nature of the night continued when a clearly fired-up Adesanya entered the cage, faced off with du Plessis and let fly, repeating "What's up n*****?" in reference to du Plessis' claim he would be the first UFC champion to fight and reside in Africa.
Scenes turned a little divisive and Du Plessis walked away, leaving Adesanya waxing lyrical alone on the mic, the star of someone else's show.
Explaining his actions on his YouTube channel, the Nigerian-born fighter was unapologetic.
"I grab the [microphone] after his fight and people feel like, 'Oh, it's cringe, bad look', this and that," said the 33-year-old.
"Either way, I make you feel something. I speak from the heart, I speak from my gut and I really make you feel something. Love me, or hate me, you will feel something. I find that really interesting.
"I'm not trying, I wasn't. I just make s*** happen. That's how I feel and I want to make it happen. I want to make him feel me. I was telling him, 'feel me, feel me,' because I was making that turn. People say I turned heel, no, I just felt myself switch and the beast comes out."
Adesanya also spoke about 'manifesting' du Plessis' victory, in order to get what is now a grudge match with the South African. It certainly put himself in a winning position. At any rate, Adesanya celebrated when a new challenger emerged.
"I manifest for myself, and I make sure I do the work to get that manifestation right," continued the middleweight champion.
"It's not just sit there and like, 'Kumbaya, ooh this is going to happen', I do the work. And, it's not frustrating, but I feel bad for people. I just do because I'm like, 'Bro, you don't even tap into these things and they're available constantly'. So when it happened I was like, f*** yes."
Adesanya v du Plessis is yet to be announced, but the bout is being slated to headline UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia. However, that would give du Plessis just nine weeks of preparation for the most important fight of his life.
