Morning Report: Israel Adesanya blasts ‘privileged’ Dricus du Plessis: ‘He doesn’t understand the error of his ways’

It took longer than expected, but Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya is finally about to happen.

UFC 305 hosts the big middleweight title tilt between the champion du Plessis and two-time champion Adesanya this Saturday night in Perth, Australia. When this matchup was first lined up, the roles were reversed and Adesanya held the gold.

What originally started as a simple title defense quickly became a grudge match when the former champion took issue with comments made by South Africa’s finest. A proud native of his country, du Plessis claimed during his rise to title contention that he’d become the first African champion, taking a title back to home soil, unlike anyone before him. “StillKnocks” has maintained no hostility with his comments and supported his stance that he’s spoken facts, which has never sat well with “The Last Stylebender.”

“I want him to take accountability for his remarks,” Adesanya told TMZ Sports. “Abdul Razak [Alhassan] said it before his fight about three weeks ago, saying, ‘I respect Dricus, but he’s a b*tch for what he said.’ He’s a b*tch. Because Dricus is saying, ‘I trained in Africa. I do this in Africa,’ and people like Razak and myself who are forced to flee our own country because of a better opportunity, he’ll never understand that because he lives behind the f*cking gates of his privileged life in South Africa, and he’s able to do that there.

“So, someone like Francis [Ngannou], who had to cross the desert to go overseas to go train. If you know Francis’ story, you can’t call him not a real African champion because he didn’t train in Africa.

“Like, bro. Are you f*cking kidding?” he concluded. “The guy got sent back out to the desert six, seven times to go die, and he survived.”

UFC Africa appeared to be a real possibility when Adesanya and his fellow former champions Ngannou and Kamaru Usman reigned over the middleweight, heavyweight, and welterweight divisions respectively. Ultimately, they were all either dethroned or left the promotion.

“Even without Francis being champion, without myself being champion, without Kamaru being champion, he would have never been champion,” Adesanya said. “We paved the way for him, and then he comes out there and tries to take it all for himself. What kind of mindset is it that you see three African champions and you’re going to be the fourth one? That’s a colonist mindset.

“He doesn’t understand the error of his ways, but I will show him the way.”

Adesanya, 35, hasn’t fought since his second title reign ended at the hands of Sean Strickland via a unanimous decision at UFC 293 in September 2023. The absence has been longer than usual for Adesanya, who was an active champion, defending a total of five times. Although his career is winding down, Adesanya revealed he’s “far from done” and won’t call it a career after the du Plessis collision.

In the end, du Plessis made history for his country and joined the continent’s overall list of titleholders with his ninth straight victory (seven in UFC) when he won the title by split decision against Strickland at UFC 297 in January. Adesanya insists he has respect for “DDP” and that things aren’t personal, he just wants him to know where things stand.

“He will always be an African champion, but he’ll never be one of the three kings,” Adesanya said.

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$$$. UFC Vegas 95 bonuses: Only 3 awards handed out after lackluster card

UFC Vegas 95 Post Show.

UFC 305 Countdown.

Loudest UFC Crowd Reactions.

Full fight.

RIZIN Best of 2024.

Pereira vs. Addiction.

Paddy Griffin.

Burns’ bag.

Wonderboy’s first.

Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes!

This month’s full playlist:

Champ.

Turf.

Champ selfies.

Decisions.

Classic.

Tim Sylvia is fuming.

Flat.

Feast or famine?

Anthony Smith (38-20) vs. Dominick Reyes (13-4); UFC 310, Dec. 14

Even though it might not be the right or most logical option for the next title fight, I am very happy that we are at least getting to see this fight happen.

Thanks for reading!

Last Week’s Results:

Friday: 61% of 423 total votes answered “Yes” when asked, “Will we ever see a Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland rematch?”

Thursday: 84% of 319 total votes answered “Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira” when asked, “Which PFL title fight are you looking forward to more?”

Wednesday: 78% of 531 total votes answered “No” when asked, “Could Islam Makhachev become a champion at middleweight?”

Tuesday: 61% of 238 total votes answered “Serghei Spivac” when asked, “Who wins this weekend?” Spivac submitted Marcin Tybura via first-round armbar at 1:44 in UFC Vegas 95’s main event.

Monday: 85% of 538 total votes answered “No” when asked, “Is there any matchup in any type of combat sport that you’re interested in seeing Tony Ferguson in?”

Today’s exit poll:

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.