Israel Adesanya has not fought since UFC 293 when he lost the UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland. “The Last Stylebender” is on a self-imposed exile after the loss and even said that he will only be returning in 2027.
Now, Dricus Du Plessis, who will be challenging Sean Strickland for the middleweight title at UFC 297, announced his plans in a recent interview. DDP last fought at UFC 290, where he defeated former champion Robert Whitaker via second-round TKO.
Du Plessis targets Adesanya clash
Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya had a face-off inside the octagon at UFC 290 after Du Plessis’ victory over Whitaker. The face-off was deemed controversial due to Izzy dropping multiple N-bombs on DDP. For context, Du Plessis called himself a real African fighter, citing his residence and training in Africa.
Du Plessis was recently interviewed by Submission Radio and he shared his plans to be victorious at UFC 297. “I would love to fight Adesanya. I would pick him for the first title defense. But the UFC will most likely put Khamzat Chimaev against me. It all comes down to who I beat and how I do it,”
The South African fighter wants his first title defense to be against Israel Adesanya but believes that the UFC will give it to Khamzat Chimaev, who was already promised a title shot. Interestingly, Chimaev recently called out Alex Pereira, the UFC light heavyweight champion. Pereira became the champion at UFC 295 with a second-round TKO victory over Jiri Prochazka.
Brendan Allen warns Israel Adesanya
Brendan Allen, the surging contender in the middleweight division had words for Israel Adesanya in a recent interview on ESPN with Marc Raimondi. Allen is on a 5 fight wins streak with 4 consecutive rear-naked choke finishes with the latest victim being Paul Craig on his second fight at middleweight.
“Good for him, but it’s never easy to come back after a long layoff,” said Allen of Adesanya taking a long lay-off. Allen thinks that MMA evolves very quickly and even a short lay-off is detrimental for the fighters. For example, Conor McGregor taking lay-offs after the boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather affected him very badly in the subsequent MMA bouts against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.
Allen, after the victory over Craig, called for a number one contender fight with Rober Whitaker, Jared Cannonier, or Khamzat Chimaev. With Chimaev promised a title shot and Whiteaker rumored to fight Paulo Costa, Cannonier, in the process of recovering from an injury, is the only option left for Allen to fight.
Do you think Israel Adesanya will return in 2024 inside the octagon? Leave your comments below!
