According to Dricus Du Plessis, he had his way with UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in sparring about 10 years ago.
Adesanya first revealed that he once trained with Du Plessis during their time at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand. Adesanya said that Du Plessis got the best of him in grappling, but he won the striking exchanges.
Du Plessis confirmed Adesanya’s story but denied the second part ever happened.
“We trained in Thailand together,” Du Plessis told The Schmo. “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, 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 the 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.”
Du Plessis (19-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) meets Robert Whittaker (24-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) on July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Although Adesanya doesn’t think Du Plessis will win, he’s manifesting the South African fighter getting his hand raised.
Adesanya’s desire to fight Du Plessis stems from the South African native’s comments where he said he plans on becoming the first “true” African UFC champion since he still lives in Africa, whereas the Nigeria-born Adesanya and Kamaru Usman left as young kids. Du Plessis said he doesn’t need Adesanya’s wishes.
“Be careful what you wish for,” Du Plessis said. “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.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.
Dricus Du Plessis says he ‘did manhandle’ UFC champ Israel Adesanya in training years ago