Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Israel Adesanya wants to get his hands on Dricus Du Plessis.

The middleweight champion and his top-ranked challenger met face-to-face for the first time inside the octagon at UFC 290 this past month. The stars aligned as Adesanya had been hoping and “manifesting” an upset victory for Du Plessis over the former champion Robert Whittaker on the night and that’s exactly what he got.

Du Plessis finished “The Reaper” with strikes in round two of their contest, proving he was as legitimate of a threat as he told the world. The win set up the highly anticipated 185-pound title fight as the expected UFC 293 headliner in Sydney, Australia next month. However, Adesanya has recently claimed that a Du Plessis foot injury will prevent the bout from taking place when hoped.

“Now he doesn’t want to fight,” Adesanya said on The Halfcast Podcast (h/t MMA News). “Even after [UFC 290], he’s like, ‘Oh, bro, all you had to do was put some gloves on, we could have got it on right there.’ B****ass f***. You wouldn’t have. ‘Cause guess what? He didn’t want it. … People were like, ‘Oh, he’s so classy walking away. He’s so [classy].’ I’m like, ‘Bro, he didn’t even walk away. He felt me.’ He didn’t wanna feel me.”

Both men have their perspectives on the encounter with Du Plessis feeling similarly to Adesanya but in his favor, of course. The South African has yet to comment on Adesanya’s claims, but their fellow top middleweight Sean Strickland has since chimed in, noting that the promotion is working on a fight between him and Adesanya for UFC 293 instead.

Adesanya is highly motivated for the Du Plessis matchup whenever it may come. Ultimately, “The Last Stylebender” is just treating this current development as a case of all bark and no bite from his budding rival.

“He’s not a scared man, he’s a tough dude,” Adesanya said of Du Plessis. “He’s very crafty, and he’s got a good team behind him. Smart team. I don’t think he’s a scared man, but I’ll tell you he’s scared of me. You know when you look in someone’s eyes, you just know straight away. He didn’t call me to the cage, I stepped in the cage myself. I didn’t even see him call me. I stepped into the cage because I made this s*** happen. This motherf***** — I hope, I really was hoping he’d f****** step up. But he’s a b****, and I’ll tell you right now. Keep training. Keep training. I’ve got something for your ass, so keep training.”

TOP STORIES

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BMFs. Dustin Poirier ‘heartbroken’ over loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 291: ‘I feel like I’m the better fighter’

Rankings. Is Alex Pereira a top-5 light heavyweight in the world?

Future. Daniel Cormier unsure about Dustin Poirier’s future after UFC 291 loss but ‘I hope he doesn’t walk away’

Gamble. Jorge Masvidal lost $100K betting on Dustin Poirier at UFC 291: ‘Kids I’m sorry, you’ve got to go to public school now’

Malfunction. Miranda Maverick accuses Priscila Cachoeira of trying to expose her at UFC 291: ‘I hope that the whole world didn’t see me’

Reactions. Hot Tweets: UFC 291 aftermath, Justin Gaethje becomes the new BMF, where Dustin Poirier goes from here

VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

UFC Nashville promo.

Bellator x RIZIN 2 Recap.

PFL San Antonio.

Invicta’s platform.

War Room: Sandhagen vs. Font.

Breaking down the “Highlight” kick.

MORNING MUSIC

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Can you smell?

The Gooch.

Walkout.

Let’s get some recs.

Gains.

How dare he!

Brutal.

Baecay all day.

Summer.

Action shots.

Celebration.

Power!

Throwback to the Gaethje slams!

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sean Woodson (9-1-1) vs. Mairon Santos (13-1); UFC Nashville, Aug. 5

Jonathan Martinez (18-4) vs. Adrian Yanez (16-4); UFC Vegas 81, Oct. 14

Magomed Ankalaev (18-1-1) vs. Johnny Walker (21-7); UFC 294, Oct. 21

FINAL THOUGHTS

At this point, I won’t be surprised if Adesanya doesn’t even fight at UFC 293. Watch Sean Strickland will end up making bank as it takes the UFC until three weeks out to make it official or something wild.

Thanks for reading!

EXIT POLL

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