South African fighter Dricus Du Plessis and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya had some heated moments at UFC 290. Du Plessis clinched a statement win against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at the event with a second-round knockout.
The high-profile win put ‘Stillknocks’ on the reigning champion Israel Adesanya’s radar. The champion wasted no time and entered the octagon during Du Plessis’ post-fight interview for a face-off while spewing bizarre statements filled with the N-word and other cringe-worthy statements.
Watch UFC 290 face-off between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya below:
Like many fans, ‘Stillknocks’ didn’t appreciate Adesanya’s out-of-character behavior. During the post-fight press conference, the South African suggested that ‘The Last Stylebender’ was feeling “insignificant” in front of him.
“Even he sees me as a champion already,” said Dricus. “Even he knows I’m the champion. And now that he sees me in the cage, he knows what a force I am. He can feel the energy and I can feel how insignificant he is to me when we’ll get in that cage.”
Furthermore, the 29-year-old bashed the Nigerian-born Kiwi for handling himself in a manner not befitting a champion.
“He’s behaving like a clown in there,” added Dricus. “That’s not how a champion behaves. That’s now how a man behaves. He’s behaving like a child. Conduct yourself like a champion. There are people looking up to you, and you’re behaving like that. Nah. If that sells tickets, good for him. I’ll sell tickets my way. I’m genuine. I’m a man, an I’ll behave like a man.”
However, UFC resident Dana White seems unfazed by the unpleasantries, and seems excited to book the two men.
Dricus Du Plessis predicts how Israel Adesanya fight will go
With a sensational win over Rober Whittaker at UFC 290, Dricus Du Plessis is expected to face Israel Adesanya for the middleweight crown in his next fight. Although a date and time are not yet set for the event, ‘Stillknocks’ has a prediction for how the fight will go.
As per the South African, he is superior to Adesanya in all facets of the game. Speaking to the press during the post-fight presser, he said:
“I’ll knock him out just like I did tonight. If not, we saw his fight with Alex Pereira. If I get him to the floor, it is not even a fight. If I just get my hands on him, it’s not even a fight. I’ll manhandle him. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.”
Catch the full UFC 290 post-fight press conference below: