It is a surprising revelation that Israel Adesanya made: indeed the latter said that he would not fight Dricus Du Plessis, but Sean Strickland.
With his TKO win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, Dricus Du Plessis was logically set to face reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, with the two fighters facing off in the Octagon right after Du Plessis’ victory. Everything then led to believe that they would fight in Australia, in September, at UFC 293.
But yesterday, situation reversal! Israel Adesanya revealed on his social media that Dricus Du Plessis did not want the fight and that he would be defending his title against… Sean Strickland:
“I don’t even know where to start, but Dricus Du Pu**y, you fucking bastard*. Oh, all he had to do was put some gloves on, and I was ready to fight. No, you weren’t, you’re a whore. That’s why you don’t accept this fight. Your foot is painful. Putai*, my knee was also damaged in my last fight. Guess what I did? I showed up, because that’s what a fucking champion does. A caliber champion, built differently. Many of you talk about fighting anyone, anywhere, anytime. No, this is not the case. I do!“
“Alex Volkanovski does it. We are built differently. I’m at the gym right now, about to work. I fight in Sydney. I don’t care who. ‘Dickless Du Pu**y, haha, dickless, fuck you. You are no longer here. Strickland, you’re here, we’re gonna do the men’s dance, show you how we really dance. But yeah, I’m just tired of all these guys saying shit, ‘I can fight, I can fight’. No, you can’t, you bastard*, you whore*“.
As of now, Israel Adesanya’s next title defense fight is unofficial, but apparently Dricus Du Plessis isn’t ready for September. If what the middleweight champion is saying is true, then he would face Sean Strickland, who was just clamoring for a title shot after his victory at UFC Vegas 76.
