Israel Adesanya launches racially-charged rant at Dricus du Plessis after the South African defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 to set up middleweight showdown

After Dricus du Plessis’s shocking knockout of Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, Israel Adesanya unleashed a racially charged tirade at his next title challenger.
Du Plessis stunned the Las Vegas crowd with a first-round knockout of Whittaker in their middleweight bout.

Adesanya, who was watching from the stands, was shown on the screen glaring at the camera before entering the cage and getting in Du Plessis’ face in a racially charged exchange.The Stylebender and his crew menacingly stood behind Du Plessis as the South African reflected on the fight and bragged about his extensive cardio training.

In response to Joe Rogan’s introduction of the “great Israel Adesanya,” Du Plessis said, “I don’t know about great.”Adesanya then said, “Relax, this is my African brother right here,” reviving an old feud between them over their shared African ancestry.

As they stood centimeters apart, he went on an N-word rant, apparently mocking Du Plessis for his earlier comments about being the only true African of the two.
Du Plessis said, “I am African, but I ain’t no brother of yours.” “What do you tell all the Kiwis?”

‘I don’t need a DNA test, I know where I’m from,’ the Nigerian-New Zealand fighter, who was born in Lagos but moved to New Zealand when he was 10, responded.
When asked for his thoughts on the bout, Du Plessis began to respond before being cut off by Adesanya, who said, “Absolutely, it’s an easy fight, it’s easy money.”

“I created this, I declared that I would have this experience, and I am having it now.”Adesanya yelled “feel me” as he dared Du Plessis to stare him down before they broke apart.

DRICUS DU PLESSIS JUST KNOCKED OUT ROBERT WHITTAKER #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/uHYKctyVE5

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) July 9, 2023

The 29-year-old Du Plessis, originally from Pretoria in South Africa, has cast doubt on Adesanya’s African ancestry on multiple occasions. He has also done so with former champions Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman, both of whom were trained in places other than Africa.
Where in Africa did you send those belts? As March’s Du Plessis remarked.

They apparently traveled to the United States and New Zealand. I plan on bringing a belt with me to Africa. My nickname in the UFC is “the African fighter.”Cameron [Saaiman] and I both have our noses plugged with African soil. An African champion is someone who “wakes up in Africa, trains in Africa, was born in Africa, was raised in Africa, lives in Africa, and trains out of Africa,” and that’s who I intend to be.

In the second round, Du Plessis knocked out Whittaker with a straight right, leaving his opponent dazed, and then finished the fight with a flurry of punches.
“As I dropped him, I wanted to rush but stayed calm; as I turned southpaw the jab really catches him; he hits hard and fast; and to share a cage with a legend means so much,” Du Plessis said.

I just knocked out a guy in the pound-for-pound rankings and Robert is a total gentleman.