Nigerian-Austrialian UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was left angry as he had to wait a bit longer for his match against Dricus du Plessis.
Du Plessis, a 29-year-old mixed martial artist from South Africa, had to withdraw from the bout initially scheduled to take place in Australia, due to a foot ailment.
The stage appeared to be set for an intriguing middleweight title fight at Sydney’s UFC 293 on September 10 after Du Plessis’ dramatic first-round victory over Robert Whittaker in their unofficial number-one contender matchup at UFC 290 earlier on July 9.
The anticipation for the forthcoming fight had heightened even before Adesanya entered the Octagon to meet his new opponent in a racially tinged battle.
The relationship between the two competitors had been strained as a result of Du Plessis’ assertions that he was the “real African” in the UFC, which infuriated the Nigerian-born competitor whose family had emigrated to New Zealand when he was a little child.
Adesanya tweeted, “I don’t even know how to start this, but Dricus DuP*ssy, you f**king b*tch.
“Your foot’s sore? My knee was jacked for my last fight. Guess what I did? I showed up because that’s what a f**king champion does. Championship caliber, built differently.”
Although Adesanya vs. Du Plessis has not yet been officially announced by the UFC, it was widely assumed that the fight would serve as the main event for the company’s first Australasian event since 2020.
Du Plessis withdrew from the title fight following Adesanya’s social media outburst on Thursday, which revealed the unfortunate news of the South African’s ailment.
After Du Plessis withdrew from the bout, Adesanya immediately asked for a replacement and issued a challenge to sixth-ranked Sean Strickland to accept the fight.
