Israel Adesanya cheers for fourth African UFC champion, Dricus Du Plessis: ‘Still going to test that a—’

Checkout Adesanya’s reaction to all the fights from UFC 297, including the main event between Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis for his old 185-pound belt.

Israel Adesanya was notably absent from UFC 297 this past weekend (Sat., Jan. 20, 2024) in Toronto, Canada, missing a chance to step into the cage and challenge African rival, Dricus Du Plessis, to a fight for his former UFC Middleweight title (watch highlights here).

So, where was he?

Back at home in Auckland, New Zealand, which looked like a pretty good decision considering the frigid weather mixed martial arts (MMA) fans “enjoyed” in “The Great White North.” In a new video on Adesanya’s YouTube channel there’s warm sun, delicious tacos and everyone is in shorts and t-shirts.

Izzy even had a comfortable couch to nap through Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva. However, “The Last Stylebender” was wide awake for the Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis pay-per-view (PPV) main event.

“I told you, later in the rounds, his coach would call time or something, say there’s a minute left,” he said as Du Plessis shot for a takedown late into the first round. “They’re gonna go for 5-0 or try to submit him. Activity from Dricus. He’s not landing more, but he’s active. Which is where it’s supposed to go. This is what I expected.

“Dricus is starting everything. Strickland is touching,” Izzy said as the fight continued. “He can’t find his jab as easy as he was in the earlier rounds because Dricus was fully offensive then.

“This is how you get the judges,” he continued as the two brawled in the final moments of the fight. “Whoever can win the last 30 seconds, you got to ‘I won that s—!’ And the fans too. ‘This is what I was doing the whole fight!’”

Optics, baby.

Adesanya barely reacted has Du Plessis was announced the new champion.

“Nice,” he said, snapping his fingers. His teammates cracked jokes about Strickland losing, and Adesanya laughed along, but kept his own comments pretty respectful.

“Now he is the fourth African champion in the UFC’s history so congrats to you my African brother, Dricus Du Plessis,” he said. “I’m actually legit happy for him, I actually like his story and whatnot. But, he still did what he did and I’m still going to test that ass.”

Okay, but when?

For complete UFC 297 results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.