For Israel Adesanya, the upcoming middleweight title fight is more than just about winning his belt back. ‘The Last Style Bender’ aims to settle a score once and for all whilst holding Dricus Du Plessis accountable for his words. The bad blood between the two men stems from statements Du Plessis made questioning Adesanya’s heritage. However, an MMA influencer on social media pointed out the hypocrisy in Israel’s victim mentality going into the fight.
Long before this fight was announced, DDP got into Adesanya’s bad books due to his comments. The champion stated that he was the only African champion in the UFC. He believes that he is the only one who qualified for that title since he actually lives and trains in Africa.
This did not sit well with Adesanya who has held a grudge against DDP ever since. In recent interviews leading up to the fight, Israel stated that he as well as many other fighters who were born in Africa and migrated to other countries did that out of compulsion.
They were forced to move for better opportunities and this is something DDP will never understand as he is ‘privileged’. An MMA influencer on Twitter reacted to the comments made by Israel Adesanya and pointed out the hypocrisy in the story, saying,
“Adesanya was from a rich upper middle class family and had multiple servants growing up, including a personal bathing servant until he was 8 years old. He is a spoilt rich kid who’s parents moved to New Zealand so he could graduate from a more internationally respected school. He tried to get away with this in the build up to the Pereira fight too, the victim mentality is crazy.”
Adesanya was from a rich upper middle class family and had multiple servants growing up, including a personal bathing servant until he was 8 years old.
He is a spoilt rich kid who’s parents moved to New Zealand so he could graduate from a more internationally respected school.… https://t.co/ha6J3DgEnh
— THE MMA GURU (@THATBOYMMAGURU) August 12, 2024
A lot rides on the outcome of this title fight, including the future of the UFC in Africa.
Dana White aims to take the UFC to South Africa
For a long time now, the likes of ‘Izzy’ and Francis Ngannou have been requesting Dana White for an event in Africa. Unfortunately, it has not happened so far. However, during a recent interview, White was asked if he would consider putting on an event in South Africa, and the 55-year-old claimed that he love to do it on one condition.
He stated that if DDP can beat Izzy and get the belt back to South Africa he would seriously consider an event there. However, for that to happen, the MW champion will have to secure a win in arguably his toughest test so far.