Du Plessis: Adesanya behaved 'like a clown' during UFC 290 faceoff
Dricus Du Plessis wasn't a fan of how UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya conducted himself when they went face to face in the Octagon at UFC 290.
During a heated exchange that aired on the pay-per-view broadcast Saturday in Las Vegas, Adesanya unleashed a slew of N-words at his next opponent following Du Plessis' second-round TKO win over Robert Whittaker. UFC president Dana White had labeled Du Plessis-Whittaker a No. 1 contender bout, and it seems possible the next title fight could take place at UFC 293 on Sept. 9 in Sydney, Australia.
"He's behaving like a clown in there," Du Plessis said of Adesanya's agitated manner at the UFC 290 postfight press conference. "That's not how a champion behaves. That's not how a man behaves. He's behaving like a child. Conduct yourself like a champion. There's people looking up to you, and you're behaving like that? Nah.
"If that sells tickets, good for him. I'll sell tickets my way. I'm a gentleman. I'm a man. And I'll behave like a man."
Adesanya and Du Plessis have gone back and forth in the media in recent months. Their rivalry stems from Du Plessis' comments earlier in 2023 about Adesanya, a Nigerian-born fighter who moved to New Zealand years ago, not living in Africa. Du Plessis was born and still resides in South Africa.
Adesanya said last month that he wanted Du Plessis to beat Whittaker so he could "torture" him in the Octagon.
Du Plessis said Saturday he was not intimidated during the staredown.
"It's usually the contender that goes into the cage, right? So, even he sees me as the champion already," Du Plessis said. "He already knows that I'm the champion. And now that he's seen me in that cage, he knows what a force I am in there. He could feel the energy, and I could feel how insignificant he is to me when we get into that cage."
As far as how their fight will play out, Du Plessis is confident he'll do to Adesanya what he did to Whittaker, a former middleweight champion, at UFC 290.
"I'll knock (Adesanya) out just like I did tonight," Du Plessis said. "If not, we saw his fight with Alex Pereira - if I get him to the floor ... it's not even a fight. If I just get my hands on him, it's not even a fight. I will manhandle him."