Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya share one of the fiercest rivalries in MMA today, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t respect between the two UFC stars.
Du Plessis and Adesanya will meet in the main event of UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, this Saturday night (Sunday morning local time). Du Plessis, the current middleweight champion, will look to defend his title, while Adesanya will look to begin a historic third reign as champion.
Ahead of the fight, which has been brewing for more than a year, Du Plessis and Adesanya have made no secret of their mutual disdain. In fact, their grudge has become so bad that it recently reduced Adesanya to tears.
However, there is clearly some respect between the two UFC 305 stars, at least when it comes to their immense skill.
Talking with UFC.com Ahead of the fight, Du Plessis offered some rare praise to Adesanya, admitting that the former champion is one of the greatest fighters of all time.
“You can’t argue with his career,” Du Plessis said. “He’s one of the greatest fighters of all time. Not in the middleweight pision, not in the UFC, but in MMA, one of the best to ever do it. As long as he’s still in the organization, I’ll have the belt, which is pretty clear that there’s something special about him.” [about me] And there is something different.
“There’s definitely extra motivation defending this title, and in a fight of this magnitude. It’s not my first main event. In the previous one, I was a contender. As a champion, there’s no difference. But the magnitude of this fight, me versus Adesanya, this fight has been brewing for almost two years.”
Du Plessis then took things a step further, stating that he actually has no bad blood with Adesanya.
“It’s never, ever personal,” Du Plessis said. “It never has been and it never will be. There’s nothing you can say, there’s nothing you can do that’s going to have an effect on me, mentally or emotionally. It’s strictly business when I go in there. I go out there and I’m mentally unbreakable. That’s my biggest attribute. I go out there and I see it for what it is. There’s no name-calling, there’s nothing anyone can say. Obviously he’s emotional going in, but I’m not.
“When it comes to a press conference, I answer the question that’s asked of me and if my opponent treats me with respect, I’ll return the favor. But if someone is going to try to pressure me, intimidate me with the microphone, I’ll do exactly what I’ll do in the fight: I won’t allow it. I think that’s a big key for me and a big weapon that I have: being able to stop everything that happened previously, everything that happens outside the Octagon and focus on the task at hand, which is to win the fight.”
South Africa’s Du Plessis won the UFC middleweight title with a decision victory over Sean Strickland earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Nigerian-born New Zealander Adesanya has not fought since losing the title to Strickland by decision last year. He was one of the biggest surprises of 2023.
