‘I just lost my s***’: Israel Adesanya recounts moments from Dricus Du Plessis’ stunning UFC 290 win to fiery faceoff
According to Israel Adesanya, he had no plan in place in regards to what he would say to Dricus Du Plessis after his UFC 290 finish of Robert Whittaker, but the middleweight champ admits he found himself in a different headspace real quick ahead of their post-fight faceoff.
On top of that, Adesanya couldn’t help but feel some responsibility for the result, as he put it out into the world, and it came back in his favor.
“I felt myself turn,” Adesnaya said on his YouTube channel. “He worked hard. I manifest for myself, and I make sure I do the work to get that manifestation right. It’s not just sit there and like, ‘Kumbaya, ooh this is going to happen,’ I do the work. And, it’s not frustrating, but I feel bad for people. I just do because I’m like, ‘Bro, you don’t even tap into these things and they’re available constantly.’
“So when it happened I was like, f*** yes. I was just urging him on [to go] forward, forward, forward. Even at the prep point, I was giving him energy, like, ‘F*** yeah, positive affirmations, let’s go.’ When it happened, I just lost my s***.”
Adesanya is expected to defend his title against Du Plessis — possibly as soon as September at UFC 293 in the promotion’s return to Sydney, Australia — but the bout has not been officially announced.
Following the biggest win of Du Plessis’ career, Adesanya entered the octagon and “The Last Stylebender” gave Du Plessis a piece of his mind in a promo that garnered mixed reviews at best.
“You know what’s funny? After my last fight and I grab the [microphone], and people say it’s the best post-fight speech in the history of the company, ever, and I grab the [microphone] after his fight and people feel like, ‘Oh, it’s cringe, bad look,’ this and that,” Adesanya explained. “Either way, I make you feel something. I speak from the heart, I speak from my gut and I really make you feel something. Love me, or hate me, you will feel something. I find that really interesting.
“I’m not trying, I wasn’t. I just make s*** happen. That’s how I feel and I want to make it happen. I want to make him feel me. I was telling him, ‘feel me, feel me,’ because I was making that turn. People say I turned heel, no, I just felt myself switch and the beast comes out.
“He’ll feel me — more than my energy. He’ll feel me for real.”
Regardless of how things played out, or how Adesanya feels about what is likely his next fight, the 185-pound champion still gave Du Plessis his kudos.
“Shout out to Dricus for working hard to get that win,” Adesanya said. “Not a lot of people were picking him to win, but I was picking him [so I could fight him].”