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Israel Adesanya pointed to an encounter about four months ago that sums up his rivalry with Derricus du Plessis.
“There was a South African in my taxi. He said, ‘You know, when you fight Derrick, whether you win or he wins, I feel like I won,’ ” Adesanya said.
“I said ‘it is’. And then we took a picture and it was just a beautiful moment.”
The build-up to Nigerian-born New Zealander Adesanya’s fight with South African du Plessis at UFC 305 — the first all-African title fight in UFC history — has been anything but smooth.
Du Plessis, 30, claims he is UFC ‘The first true African champion’ – The comments angered two-time UFC middleweight champion Adesanya, who has held titles with fellow Nigerian Kamaru Usman and Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou.
Du Plessis clarified his comments, saying he is the first champion still based on the continent, with Adesanya, Usman and Ngannou all having moved elsewhere, but the bitterness remains. At the pre-match press conference.
However, du Plessis defeated the 35-year-old Adesanya to retain his middleweight title in an engrossing main event in Perth, Australia, before the two settled their differences and agreed that Africa was the true winner of the fight.
“I think Africa won tonight and like I said before, he’s going to inspire the next generation of African fighters just like me, Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou inspired him to become an African champion,” Adesanya said.
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