Legendary MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy and former UFC fighter Josh ‘Punk’ Thomson have expressed their disappointment at the hostile face-off between Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290 following the latter’s second-round victory over Robert Whittaker, believing it will hit UFC’s fan following.

On their Weighing In podcast, the two put forth their views on the incident. Thomson expressed discomfort at Izzy using racial expletives in the octagon and wondered what impression it would give young fans.

John McCarthy and Josh Thomson react to Adesanya- Du Plessis showdown

“There’s young children that were sitting at home watching. I mean my kids were sitting in the room listening” Thomson said. “Look, we’re gonna lose fans because of that. Bottom line is, you’re gonna lose fans.”

Big John agreed, saying the UFC would look down on the incident and that it contributed little to hyping up the fight. “That’s definitely not a good look, and I don’t think the UFC is going to be happy with the way that played out,” he told Thomson. “In the end, when you’re looking at the entire situation, there’s just no point to it. Yeah, it didn’t help in selling the fight.”

Although Dana White dismissed Izzy’s language as no big deal, it is clear that a section of the MMA community is uncomfortable with the racial undertones the fight is taking on. But what are the origins of this feud?

Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis’s feud

Adesanya and DDP’s feud began when the latter questioned whether the UFC championship belts won by African champions Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, and Francis Ngannou ever went to Africa on account of all three residing outside Africa.

This statement stuck in Stylebender’s craw as he takes great pride in his Yoruba heritage. He saw this statement as the South African questioning his African heritage. The Kiwi-Nigerian fired back, saying DDP was not qualified to speak on his or other champions’ African heritage as the Pretorian was a “product of colonization”.

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The South African later clarified that he didn’t mean to question Adesanya’s heritage but reiterated that he actually lives in Africa, unlike the other champions. But the damage had already been done, and the mutual dislike between the two was palpable at their faceoff.

Clearly, this incident did not sit well with Big John and Josh Thomson, who thought it was detrimental to the UFC and its reputation. Do you think the face-off was unnecessary and bad for the sport? Or do you think it is simply trash-talking to hype up the fight, not unlike what Conor McGregor does? Tell us in the comments below.

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