Before his fight with Dricus Du Plessis, Robert Whittaker had his eyes firmly set on Israel Adesanya. The Australian told reporters that he will “never stop hunting” Adesanya until he can beat him. And his opponent, Du Plessis himself, was actively involved in a feud with Adesanya.

It seemed all roads led to Adesanya. However, the match never officially became a number-one contenders match. Chael Sonnen had an interesting theory about how Joe Rogan helped make the title fight between Adesanya and Du Plessis.

Chael reveals Joe Rogan’s role in making Adesanya vs. Du Plessis fight

In a video uploaded on his official Youtube channel, ‘Uncle’ Chael said that Whitaker vs. Du Plessis was not declared to be a number-one contender’s match in advance. “Nobody told us this was a number one contenders match, and that includes at the press conference two days earlier when they asked Dana about it; no one said this was a number one contenders match.” he said.

He claimed Rogan speaking about a title shot to Du Plessis made the point clear. Chael assumed someone told Rogan it was a contender match, which is why he spoke about it to ‘Stillknocks’. “You want to know when we found it was the number one contender’s match? When Joe Rogan interviewed Du Plessis afterwards and said, we have a world title fight, that’s what we’re all looking around going, okay, well somebody told Joe to say that, so I guess this is a number one contenders match.” Chael added. 

Nevertheless, the middleweight division has a title bout lined up and both fighters involved have animosity against each other.

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The Adesanya – Du Plessis feud

Whittaker lost to the South African at UFC 290 in the second round. The two eneterd a verbal altercation after the South African said he would be the first champion who lives in Africa. He was drawing attention to the fact that none of the three African champions then (Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, Francis Ngannou) live in Africa.

Adesanya saw this as a challenge to his African heritage and blasted Du Plessis, calling him a “product of colonization”. However, ‘Stillknocks’ later clarified that he didn’t mean to question Adesanya’s heritage. However, the middleweight reiterated that he actually lives and trains in Africa, unlike Adesanya. All this culminated in his hostile face-off with Israel Adesanya after the Whittaker fight. Stylebender went on an expletive-filled rant against Du Plessis, calling him “my African brother” and inviting him to take an ancestry test.

ALSO READ- Israel Adesanya Doubles Down on X-Rated Rant on Dricus Du Plessis With a 2-Word Message Taunting Over His Nationality

The animosity between the two is palpable, which has fans excited for their upcoming matchup. Who do you think will win in a Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya match? Let us know in the comments section below.

Watch this story: Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones Cross Paths and Get Into a Friendly Tussle