Israel Adesanya hurls racial slurs at Dricus Du Plessis as UFC 290 face off turns ugly

Things got ugly in the cage after Dricus Du Plessis knocked out Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 tonight (Sat., July 8, 2023) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch highlights), to earn himself a title shot against Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya.

Du Plessis and Adesanya have a growing feud that is largely based on some iffy statements from Du Plessis about Adesanya’s heritage. “Still Knocks” says he wants to be the first “real” African champion — he’s not just from South Africa, he lives and trains there. Adesanya grew up in Nigeria, but moved to New Zealand where he trains with City Kickboxing.

Adesanya entered the cage following Du Plessis’ win and seemed to waver on how to react in the moment. He initially told Dricus to chill and relax as they faced off, only to switch up his energy and launch into an obscene tirade.

“This is my African brother right here, let’s go n—, what’s up b—h?” Adesanya yelled. “Let’s go n—, here n—. Wassup n—? Yeah, my African brother!”

“I’m African but I ain’t no brother of yours, son,” Du Plessis responded.

“You my n— for real,” Adesanya retorted.

“What do you say to everybody in New Zealand? What do you say?” Du Plessis asked.

“I don’t need a DNA test, I don’t need a [23AndMe] to know where I’m from,” Adesanya said. “If they do a [23AndMe] it’ll say I’m from Nigeria. Do a [23AndMe] DNA test, it’ll tell you where you’re from.”

Adesanya accepted Du Plessis as his next challenger on the spot.

“Easy fight, that’s what it is, it’s easy money,” Adesanya said. “I manifested this, I said I was going to have this moment, and I know I’m going to have this moment. Look at me. Come here. Just feel me.”

It’s clear from this encounter that Israel Adesanya is not coming into this fight to play around. If this is what the buildup is going to look like the entire time, we’re lucky the bout will probably be happening soon. “The Last Stylebender” is currently penciled in to fight at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia on Sept. 10, 2023.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 290 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard bouts on ABC/ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 290: “Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 290 fight card and PPV lineup click here.