Is Dricus Du Plessis going to be a more competitive matchup for Israel Adesanya than he seems? If Du Plessis is to be believed, he once “manhandled” the middleweight champion at a sparring session.
Adesanya revealed on Impaulsive that they had sparred in China, that Du Plessis had the better of their grappling exchanges, but he dominated in striking. Du Plessis, on the other hand, told The Schmo that the story is half true.
UFC Middleweight Dricus Du Plessis Supposedly “Manhandled” Israel Adesanya While Sparring
“Oh yeah, we trained in Thailand together. I think I was 19 years old at the time. He had quite a record in MMA already, back then. I was 3-0, I think. Yeah, I was 3-0 when we trained together. He said I beat him in the grappling exchanges.
He’s 100 percent correct in that. I did manhandle him in grappling and wrestling exchanges, but we did not do a single round of striking together. Not one.
I mean, that was his way of saving himself, saying, ‘No, but I beat him in the striking.’ We never did striking together, not one round. When we sparred, we grappled and we wrestled. We never did one single round of striking together. Not as far as I know, and that’s something you would remember.”
Adesanya has also gone on record stating that he wants Du Plessis for his next title defense, most likely when the UFC heads to Sydney, Australia, in September. “Be careful what you wish for. At the end of the day, I don’t care if he hopes, if he wants it, I’ll win on my terms and it’s imminent like I said.
When I fight for the belt, I’m gonna fight Adesanya. He says he’s hoping that I win, that’s good. I don’t need hope. I think the hope is for those that believe winning can happen by accident. I’m not winning by accident or by him hoping. I’m winning because of hard work and because I’m the best fighter.
He’ll get his shot. He can stand in line. He’s calling me out, I’m not calling him out. So, I’ll be fighting him because that’s what I deserve but he can stand in line just like everybody else and when the time comes, I’ll be fighting him.
Let’s see if he’s game. Let’s see if Adesanya is really there when the time comes. The way I see it, I think after Whittaker just give me about five minutes.
With the way I’m feeling right now, just give me about five minutes and water then I’ll fight him on the same night. Let’s do it next week, Saturday.”
