Dana White does not care about the racial animosity between Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis.
The rivalry between Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis has been escalating over the past few months. Du Plessis made his intentions clear, expressing his desire to become the first UFC champion to live and train in Africa. The tension between these top-tier middleweights heightened at UFC 290 when Du Plessis secured a third-round TKO against Robert Whittaker.
Du Plessis’ impressive victory sets him up for a potential title match against Adesanya in the 185-pound division. Therefore, Adesanya stepped into the Octagon to face off with Du Plessis immediately after his own victory over Whittaker.
During the press conference of UFC 290, Dana White was asked about the decision to have Adesanya and Du Plessis face off.
White responded by stating, “There was a big debate over it. I didn’t wanna do it. First of all, what I don’t like to do is when you have somebody like Du Plessis who, big win for him, just beat the second-best guy in the world in that division, and then somebody is gonna get in his face and get aggressive with him again after they just got done getting out of war.”
Adesanya’s use of a racial slur directed at Du Plessis during their confrontation prompted questions about the racial tension between them. In response, Dana White dismissed the issue.
He said: “What were the racial undertones?… He’s black, ok, he’s black. Who gives a s**t? I could care less [about the racial tension between Adesanya and Du Plessis]. This is the fight business. Israel Adesanya can say whatever he wants to say. Who gives a s**t? Why are people b**ching about that? Of course they are… Too f**king bad.”
On August 9, UFC will return to Sydney for UFC 293. Israel Adesanya has expressed his desire to headline the event. However, it remains uncertain if Dricus Du Plessis will be available for a match just two months after his previous bout.
During the press conference, Dana White addressed the question of whether Du Plessis would be ready to compete against Adesanya in August.
He replied, “I don’t know. We gotta see. When you come out of a night like tonight, these fights were all tough wars. We will see how these guys feel… You gotta give these guys a couple weeks to go home and relax and let their bodies heal and spend some time with their families. It’s just things you don’t talk about right after the fight.”
Du Plessis made his UFC debut in October 2020. Since then, he has silenced his critics with an impressive record of six consecutive wins.