Even though Israel Adesanya is set to make his UFC middleweight championship belt defense against Sean Strickland in two weeks, the Nigerian admits he considers a showdown with South African Dricus Du Plessis, whom the American replaced in the title fight, to be more important.
“We’ll see if he eventually shows up or not, but I can tell you how I feel about it,” MMA Fighting quoted Adesanya as saying. “I want this fight. I feel like it’s going to be one of the most important fights in sports history, but the clock is ticking. Time waits for no one.”
This past July at UFC 290 in Las Vegas, Dricus Du Plessis scored a largely sensational victory by knocking out Robert Whittaker in a challenger’s bout, but refused to return to the octagon two months later, citing a leg injury.
Adding intrigue to the Adesanya-Du Plessis confrontation is the personal conflict that arose after the South African pledged to become the UFC’s first true African champion, questioning the New Zealand-based Nigerian’s African identity.
As a reminder, a title fight between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland will headline UFC 293 in Sydney on September 9.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/32467-israel-adesanya-v-ozhidanii-odnogo-iz-vazhnejshikh-boev-v-istorii.html?rand=19907
