‘Just kiss already’: World reacts to wild Dricus du Plessis-Israel Adesanya face off

There is no love lost between middleweight superstars Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya after one of longest face offs the UFC has seen.

UFC stars Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya have had to be separated after an epic staredown ahead of their highly anticipated middleweight title clash at UFC 305 on August 18 in Perth.

Current middleweight champion du Plessis will face the former king of the division Adesanya but the pair weren’t holding things back ahead of their clash.

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Adesanya hasn’t fought since his loss to Sean Strickland in UFC 293 in September last year and has lost two of his last three fights, having lost, then defeated Alex Pereira before the Brazilian moved up to light heavyweight.

In the meantime, Strickland lost the title to du Plessis, who became the first South African-born champion in UFC history, albeit controversially.

But du Plessis had just one man on his wish list for his first title defence, with the Nigerian-born New Zealander taking up the challenge to win back the middleweight title he’d held twice before.

The pair have a longstanding beef and it was clear their was no love lost in an intense staredown which was eventually broken up by security.

Although no punches were thrown, it had the feeling that any spark would have lit the fuse.

After the staredown, du Plessis spoke with Australian MMA Show Submission Radio, revealing what Adesanya was saying.

“I think he said ‘don’t kiss me’, he said ‘don’t go kissing me now’, I said ‘I’m no dog so I won’t’,” du Plessis said.

“I don’t really know what he was saying, I didn’t say anything. I’m not here to just say anything. The date is set, there’s no need to say anything.

“In terms of demeanour, this man is trying to convince himself that he still wants to be here.

“He will never get what he had — there’s not enough time. He has done what he was going to do in the sport in terms of legacy.”

Du Plessis said he wasn’t going to move until Adesanya move, adding: “The longer we stood there, the smaller he became, in my eyes and in his own.”

He added that the staredown showed it was going to be “an absolute banger of a fight”.

Plenty of fans declared it the “best staredown ever”, but some other fans couldn’t help themselves.

“Just kiss already,” one wrote.

Another posted: “Israel has always been fantastic but man, DDP has got some aura after winning the title … both of them mean business.”

Another commented: “Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis didn’t break eye contact for a legit 90 seconds during their staredown after the UFC 305 pre-sale press conference. Yeah, that is the game I love.”

A fourth posted: “Best staredown in UFC history. Rogan called it.”

There was no love lost here. Photo: Twitter

Even being broken up, the pair didn't break the stare. Photo: Twitter

The pair have a longstanding beef with arguments over who was the true African champion, while Adesanya had burst into the octagon after du Plessis had defeated Aussie Robert Whittaker in July last year.

Adesanya bombarded du Plessis with expletives while using a series of racial slurs.

“Whassup, b***h? Whassup, my African brother, you b***h,” Adesanya said, before unleashing a tirade, including several n-bombs.

Du Plessis hit back: “I’m African, but I ain’t no brother of yours.”

Speaking at the press conference, Adesanya slammed the South African after claiming he was a “true African champion”.

“He tried to discredit the three kings (Adesanya, Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman) and say that he is the real true African Champion, and I was like, ‘It’s a weird mindset, bro, like, he came into the UFC, I knew who he was a little bit. But I didn’t go over the f**k this fake dude coming in’,” he said.

“I just, so cool, he’s not African in the UFC. But then him discrediting me, Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usman, that took me off a little bit. So, that’s what started this. But again, I’ll finish it.”

Du Plessis is the champion. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images/AFP

Du Plessis hit back saying: “And as far as discrediting, never discredited anybody.

“Stating facts. Where do I reside? What’s my postal code? Where do I train? Where do I live, where was I born? In South Africa. Still there. Still training.

“And I won this belt from South Africa. I didn’t try anywhere else. That was the only thing I stated.

“So, never discredited anybody. Quite frankly, I don’t really care about how it rubbed him off the wrong way. I don’t, I don’t care.”

Adesanya had also spoken about having refreshed after 18 months out of the sport, even saying he “took up golf and slowed things down a little bit”.

The current champ hit back saying: “I’m glad you took up golf, because that’s a retirement sport”.

Originally published as ‘Just kiss already’: World reacts to wild Dricus du Plessis-Israel Adesanya face off