Former UFC Middleweight champion Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya has made an interesting remark ahead of his UFC 305 title fight.
The former champ and future Hall of Famer Israel Adesanya looks to return to the octagon this weekend. He will face current Middleweight champion “Stillknocks” Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 in Perth on Saturday 17th August.
After nearly a year hiatus from the sport he is back and keen to settle the score. The last time he fought was at UFC 293 in September 2023 against Sean Strickland.
In what was a surprise upset Strickland, the massive underdog outshone Adesanya. Knocking him down in the first and dominating him to a decision victory and UFC Middleweight gold.
Following the loss Izzy announced that he would take some time away from the sport to recover fully from various injuries he’d been carrying. Given that he has competed in 16 fights in his 6 years with the UFC, his rest is well deserved.
Recovered and raring to go “The Last Stylebender” cannot wait to get his hands on longtime foe Dricus Du Plessis.
The Stylebender V Stillknocks Rivalry
The two combatants, Du Plessis and Adesanya have been on each other’s radars for some time. Following his KO victory over Robert Whittaker, Du Plessis welcomed Adesanya into the octagon from the crowd.
At the time Adesanya held the Middleweight belt but fought Strickland instead. Though meant to be a warmup for his showdown with DDP, the aforementioned Strickland victory meant DDP would face Sean in January of this year.
After beating Strickland in a close 5 decision to claim the Middleweight title DDP decided it was time to settle the feud with Izzy. Their distaste for one another seems to lie more heavily on the side of Adesanya.
Izzy’s dislike for Du Plessis stems from an interview in which Dricus proclaimed he would become “the first real African champion”. Understandably the Nigerian-born Adesanya took this personally.
DDP aimed to clear the air by stating he’s been misunderstood. He claims that what he meant was that he is the first champion to win a belt whilst training out of Africa.
As opposed to Adesanya who trains out of New Zealand. Now ready to return to competition Izzy had an interesting take on his upcoming bout.
Israel Adesanya Values Beating Dricus du Plessis Higher Than UFC Gold
In the latest instalment of Countdown for UFC 305 Israel Adesanya made an eye-opening remark. When talking about his opponent he said that he values beating Dricus Du Plessis more than he wants the belt back.
“Beating Dricus is more important to me than getting the belt back. This fight is about history.”
Alluding to DDP’s “real African” comment Izzy is fighting for history. With the pride of his home nation on his mind Adesanya is locked in ahead of his championship fight.
With the belt the least of his worries, how will “The Last Stylebender” show up this weekend at UFC 305?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
