Israel Adesanya Opens Up On Drama W/ Dricus Du Plessis Ahead Of UFC 305

TMZ

Israel Adesanya's returning to the Octagon for a scrap with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 ... and the former champ is now breaking down exactly where his beef stands with the current middleweight title holder.

Transcript

00:00What's it like being back, Izzy?

00:03Uh, well, it's only been, I think, what, 10 months, maybe,

00:08since September, but it has felt like ages.

00:11It's felt like three years because I'm...

00:13It has felt like a long time.

00:15I was fighting all the time.

00:17Every other month, I was fighting,

00:19so I know the games miss me, even though it goes by,

00:22because time waits for no man.

00:24But, yeah, I've missed the game, too.

00:27I miss this shit.

00:30What have you done, Israel?

00:32When you step in that octagon at 305,

00:34are you going to be the Israel Adesanya

00:36that everybody has watched?

00:38Are you a different fighter? Have you evolved?

00:40What do you look like when you get in there, Israel?

00:43Um, I forged myself into a weapon for this one.

00:46I'm definitely evolved.

00:48I'm definitely evolved.

00:50Uh, and just taking my time to heal myself,

00:54mind, body, and spirit.

00:56Taking my time and patience.

00:59Patience has been my friend throughout this whole thing.

01:02I'm a very patient man, so I'm able to just sit,

01:05watch, and plot.

01:08I heard you say it might have been earlier today

01:10or earlier this week that you have,

01:12for the first time, prepared like a proper athlete.

01:15I don't know if that's what you're eating,

01:17how you're training.

01:19Have you been preparing differently

01:21than you have in the past?

01:23No. Well, I mean, I've always been an athlete,

01:25so I could just...

01:27I mean, I just turned 35 years old,

01:29so I understand that I'm not, you know,

01:32a spring chicken, like a 24, 23-year-old anymore.

01:36But, um, yeah.

01:38Now, what I eat, you know,

01:40I don't just eat Uber Eats every meal,

01:42because I could do that when I was younger

01:44because it was easy and I didn't have to worry

01:46about my weight because, you know,

01:48fast metabolism, but now I have my friend

01:51and my chef, Matt, making me meals,

01:53whole foods, every day, you know.

01:56I actually have breakfast now before I go to train.

01:58Before, I'd just wake up, roll out of bed,

02:00fucking chuck my shit in my bag,

02:02go to the gym, kick ass,

02:04then go have breakfast around 11.30, you know.

02:07But, like, now I wake up, Matt's got my juice,

02:09my fucking beta-alanine,

02:12my supplements, breakfast ready,

02:14so I have that before I go train.

02:16Like, little things like that, that's what I'm saying.

02:18You're not putting that In-N-Out down anymore?

02:22Nah, well, I mean, like,

02:24I could eat out still, maybe, like,

02:26three weeks ago or two weeks ago

02:28if I felt like, not McDonald's or anything,

02:30but if I felt like, you know,

02:32some burger fuel or whatever,

02:35I could have that, but nah.

02:37Mainly just the lifestyle, little things.

02:40Also sleep, sleep as well,

02:42not being a fucking vamp life,

02:44being a night owl all the time.

02:46Sleep is a fucking motherfucker, man.

02:48It's good for you.

02:50It's so good for you.

02:52And these are things I've always known,

02:53but just never affected me

02:55because I just got away with it.

02:58So, yeah, now it's just, yeah,

03:01I'm living like a fucking athlete,

03:03like a proper athlete, and it's nice.

03:06From your perspective, Izzy,

03:08it's been some time, obviously,

03:10you know, things were really heated

03:12with you and Drikus, some time has passed.

03:15From your perspective, is there still,

03:17is there, like, an active beef?

03:19Is this just another guy that you're fighting

03:21like you have so many other challengers in the past?

03:24How do you look at Drikus

03:25and the personal relationship between you two?

03:30Yeah, it's not personal, personal.

03:33Like, it's not personal.

03:34I just want him to take accountability

03:36for his remarks.

03:39And I'm also glad my friend Razak,

03:43you know, Abdul Razak said it

03:45before his fight about three weeks ago,

03:47saying, like, you know,

03:49he's a bitch for what he said.

03:50He's a bitch, because Drikus is saying,

03:52I trained in Africa, I do this in Africa.

03:54And people like Razak and myself

03:57who are forced to flee our own country

03:59because of, you know, a better opportunity.

04:02He can't even, he'll never understand that

04:05because he lives behind the fucking gates

04:07of his privileged life in South Africa,

04:10and he's able to do that there.

04:11So someone like Francis,

04:12who had to cross the desert

04:14to go overseas to go train.

04:16If you know Francis' story,

04:17you can't call him not a real African champion

04:21because he, you know, he didn't train in Africa.

04:25It's like, bro, are you fucking kidding?

04:26The guy got sent back out to the desert

04:28six, seven times to go die,

04:30and he survived, you know?

04:32Like, the things he said,

04:34and even without Francis being champion,

04:36without myself being champion,

04:37without Kamaru being champion,

04:38he would have never been champion.

04:40We paved the way for him,

04:41and then he comes out there

04:42and tries to take it all for himself.

04:45I wonder where he got that from.

04:46What kind of mindset is that?

04:47Like, oh, I see this,

04:50and I want it all for myself.

04:51Like, oh, look at this beautiful land.

04:52Look at this.

04:53I want it all for myself.

04:54What kind of mindset is that?

04:55What kind of mindset is it

04:56that you see three African champions,

04:58and you're going to be the fourth one?

05:00You could have said, you know,

05:01it'd be a great honor to be

05:02part of the legends of African champions

05:05that have been in the UFC.

05:06He tries to say, take it all for himself.

05:08That's a colonialist mindset,

05:09and he doesn't understand the error of his ways,

05:12but I will show him the way.

05:14You know, there seems like

05:15there are some things that are said

05:17in the lead-up to fights,

05:18and then you all fight,

05:19and it's like, okay, cool.

05:20There are also things that are really serious

05:23and go beyond fighting.

05:24It seems like, you know,

05:25what he said might be one of those things

05:27where it's not just,

05:28hey, everything's cool after the fight.

05:30Not that you're going to try

05:31and kill him after the bell,

05:32you know, the final bell rings,

05:34but it seems like one of those things

05:35where, hey, you know,

05:36you're always going to remember.

05:38It's not something you're going to forget.

05:40I'll never forget

05:41what I'm, after the fight,

05:42I don't know.

05:44We'll see how we feel after the fight,

05:47but I'll never forget the three kings.

05:50You can never, ever discredit the three kings,

05:52and it's not even just because of the belts.

05:54Like what Francis said, fuck the belts.

05:57You're a champion

05:58because of the way you carry yourself

05:59and because of what you've been through in life.

06:01You know,

06:02Drukis will always be an African champion,

06:04but he will never be one of the three kings.

06:07What does it say, Israel,

06:09if anything,

06:10that this is your first fight back

06:12after a little layoff here.

06:13He's the guy who's the champion,

06:14but the thing's going down in your backyard.

06:16And what does that say about who the A-side is here?

06:20I mean,

06:23he knows who the A-side is.

06:24He said something,

06:25and no one gave a fuck.

06:27I dropped a post on my Instagram,

06:28the whole fucking internet.

06:29Oh, shit.

06:30Oh, the fight's on.

06:31And then the UFC had to release,

06:33announce the fight after I dropped.

06:34So there's one person who's controlling

06:36the narrative here,

06:37and that's me.

06:39I know you got to go.

06:41Is this a one-time deal

06:43or is this, you know,

06:44Israel Adesanya's back

06:46and you're fighting in the UFC

06:48and you're going to be active

06:49like you were in the past?

06:51Oh, I mean,

06:52this is not a one-time deal.

06:53I'm not done.

06:54Far from done in this game.

06:56I know I'm 35,

06:57but again,

06:58I'm having breakfast now.

06:59Breakfast.

07:00So, yeah.

07:02I know I can prolong myself in this game

07:05and actually close the show,

07:08close this chapter of my life

07:10in a big way,

07:11finish strong.

07:12So, yeah.

07:14I'm going to enjoy the next few years.

07:15The next couple of years,

07:16I'm going to enjoy.

07:17And I'm really going to suck everything in.

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