“That Is Not the Example I Want To Set for People”: Addressing His Viral UFC 290 Face Off With Israel Adesanya, Dricus du Plessis Takes a Firm Stand on Champ’s ‘N-Word’ Rant

Everyone wants a piece of Israel Adesanya, but not Dricus du Plessis. At least not the nasty part he saw at the UFC 290. The South African fighter believes what the ‘Stylebender’ brought into the octagon wasn’t expected of a champion. His later comments about labeling the middleweight champion as a “clown” also reflected the same. Adesanya’s remarks stirred headlines and everyone argued about the civility of the statements. Now, ‘Stillknocks’ has reiterated “racial slurs does not belong in sports”.

The 29-year-old faced Robert Whittaker in a title contender decider at UFC 290. After collecting a win in the biggest match of his career, he changed verbal sludges with Adesanya as the middleweight kingpin barged into the cage. However, the Nigerian-Kiwi then dropped a barrage of N-word bombs, to which the du Plessis held his ground with calm. Du Plessis then simply walked away as he raised his hands and soaked in the bliss of victory. As the conduct of Adesanya is still hotly debated, the 20-2 record holder hopes to separate himself from those comments.

Dricus du Plessis questions Israel Adesanya’s diluting effect on sports

The #1 ranked middleweight reflected upon the confrontation with the Auckland native as he sat down with Cameron Saaiman. He questioned the example Adesanya was setting with his slurs as he held sway over thousands of fans. Further, he declared, “It [racial slurs] doesn’t belong in the world, in my opinion. I do not want that a part of anything that I’m doing.”

Following this, the former KSW champion appreciated the sports that had offered people “so many things” but Adesanya’s remarks diluted it. He mentioned those statements brought race and color into the beautiful game, and he immediately decided he didn’t want to be a part of that. That’s why the Hatfield native chose to walk away.

“I’m not gonna engage in that. That is not the example I want to set for people. That is not what my message to anybody in the world is,” du Plessis declared. He also shared the same chain of thoughts with UFC President Dana White, as he believed Adesanya could do whatever he wanted. But the middleweight fighter declined to entertain those.

He declared, “I’m just not entertaining that. I’m not entertaining any talk about the racial slurs that he’s been using.”

Adesanya’s verbal attacks on du Plessis are due to du Plessis’ comments about becoming the first African to bring UFC gold to the continent. The debate of true African has taken a back seat now as the pair will not meet as was previously announced at UFC 293. With du Plessis’ foot injury, negotiations are going on to slot in Sean Strickland.

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What do you think of these comments by Dricus du Plessis? Do you believe his rivalry with Israel Adesanya has taken an ugly turn? Let us know in the comments below.

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