Israel Adesanya hints at UFC 300 return against bitter rival Dricus du Plessis

23 January 2024 , 14:53

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Israel Adesanya hints at UFC 300 return against bitter rival Dricus du Plessis

Israel Adesanya has teased a potential UFC 300 return just days after Dricus Du Plessis' middleweight title win.

Du Plessis won a razor-close split decision against Sean Strickland at UFC 297 on Saturday night to become the new 185lb champion. Two judges scored the fight 48-47 in favour of Du Plessis after five rounds whilst the other had it for Strickland in a fight that easily could have gone either way.

Adesanya was called out by Du Plessis in his post-fight interview as the South African said: “I saw Alex Pereira get in the cage and thought ‘Ok, let’s do the face-off right now’. There was another guy who tried to take my shine, he lost his shine and now I have it. He didn’t get into the cage tonight but Israel Adesanya, get your a* back to the UFC so we can settle the score.”

Do you want to see Israel Adesanya fight Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 300? Let us know in the comments section below

Adesanya responded to Du Plessis' call-out by posting a picture of himself on a run with the caption: "Ah s***, here we go again." The former two-time champion also posted another picture with an emoji of the South African flag, writing: "Tis the season..." Adesanya and Du Plessis were supposed to fight at UFC 293 last September, but an injury to Du Plessis saw Strickland take his place and win the world title.

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"This arc was written long ago. Our paths are destined to cross again. Stay tuned for the next episode, thanks for watching. We write history," Adesanya wrote of facing Du Plessis. 'The Last Stylebender' said before his last fight that he wanted to compete alongside teammate Alexander Volkanovski on UFC 300.

UFC boss Dana White has played down an immediate rematch between Du Plessis and Strickland despite scoring the fight for the former champion. The head honcho said he will announce the main event of UFC 300 soon and Du Plessis welcomed a return at the mega-event, which takes place on April 13 in Las Vegas.

“I look like a cauliflower now, I’m pretty banged up but I’m up for another round. I don’t want to put a timeline on it but UFC 300 sounds amazing. It’s nothing personal with [Israel], it’s just the fight the fans want to see. There’s a lot of hype, but I don’t care who it is," Du Plessis said after his win.

Harry Davies