Israel Adesanya: Dricus Du Plessis will be forced to 'take accountability for what he said' in UFC 305 title fight

Israel Adesanya clearly has some animosity pent up toward Dricus Du Plessis, but he struggles to put their feud on the same level of his other most notable career rivalries ahead of UFC 305.

The genesis of the beef between Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) and current middleweight champion Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who meet in the Aug. 17 headliner at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), is far from a secret at this point.

Adesanya was rubbed the wrong way when, while he was a sitting UFC champion alongside Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman, his upcoming opponent Du Plessis was vocal about how when the day came for his turn with the belt, he would take pride in being the first fighter to hold a UFC title while living and training in an African country.

Du Plessis, who hails from South Africa, got much pushback for his comments, but be it through ignorance, arrogance or true belief, he has dug in on his stance. It led to a emotionally-charged faceoff in the octagon at UFC 290 in July 2023, and has created a whole storyline with Adesanya going into their fight.

Although “The Last Stylebender” still thinks the entire premise around Du Plessis’ initial comments is false, he admits it’s not as personal as some might be interpreting. It’s certainly not on the same tier of rivalry for Adesanya as his history with an Alex Pereira or Robert Whittaker – both of whom he’s fought twice under the UFC banner. Adesanya said he won’t know if it’s comparable to those until after the fight.

“I haven’t even fought the guy yet,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie. “Those rivalries with Pereira and Whittaker – those are etched in history. Me and this guy haven’t even fought yet. … Now we’ll fight and settle the score. But nah, it’s not really personal. What he said is blasphemous because without myself, Francis and Kamaru – he wouldn’t be able to be champion or whatever. What he said was really blasphemous and he’ll take accountability for what he said. He’ll be forced to.”

Adesanya, 35, said he expects his tension with Du Plessis to come to a head from the moment they step in the octagon. UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping has said he expects the “nasty version of Adesanya” following a career-long 11-month layoff, and Adesanya agrees with that assessment.

“I’ll say so – definitely,” Adesanya said. “It’s not going to be some kind of pitter patty-cake type shit. We’re going to fight. I mean my last fight wasn’t really pitter patty cake. I just couldn’t get going and I got beat. But this one is going to be pretty interesting from the jump.”

If Adesanya is able to achieve victory at UFC 305, he will join Randy Couture as the only fighters in UFC history to have three separate title reigns in a single weight class. Adesanya said that accomplishment isn’t his driving force, but it would certainly be a nice feather in his cap.

“This is special to achieve something like that.” Adesanya said. “But that’s not the main focus. I just know what the main focus is, and by doing that, the others will follow. That’s why I’m focused on the main thing, which is just taking his head off.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.