UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has put Dricus du Plessis on blast after claiming that he’s pulled out of their title fight due to a foot injury, and has suggested that Sean Strickland will now be his opponent at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia on September 9th instead.
“I don’t even know how to start this, but Dricus du P—y. You f—ng bitch,” Adesanya said in a video post on Twitter. “‘Oh, all he has to do is put on some gloves. I was ready to go again.’ No, you weren’t. You’re a bitch.
That’s why you’re not taking this fight. Your foot’s sore. N—a, my knee was jacked two weeks from my last fight. Guess what I did? I showed up. That’s what a f—ng champion does. Championship caliber, built different.
“A lot of you fighters talk, ‘Oh, I’ll fight anyone, anywhere, anytime.’ No, you won’t. I do. Alex Volkanovski does. We’re built different.”
So far du Plessis hasn’t responded and his withdrawal from the fight has yet to be made official, while Strickland hasn’t commented on the situation either yet.
The 32-year-old Strickland did come fairly close to a title shot last year when he was riding a six-fight winning streak, but he then suffered a KO loss to Alex Pereira and followed that up with a split-decision loss against Jared Cannonier to end the year on a disappointing note.
However, Strickland has since fought twice already this year and picked up back-to-back wins against Nassourdine Imavov and Abusupiyan Magomedov, leaving him ranked No.6 in the division.