Israel Adesanya expected to miss UFC 300 return, title grudge fight with Dricus du Plessis: ‘Not ready to go’
Although Israel Adesanya has been stoking the embers of his fiery 2024 return, he has sadly been reported to have shut down any rumors about him and Dricus Du Plessis fighting at UFC 300.
At one point on top of the MMA world, Israel Adesanya is coming off of a soul-crushing defeat at the hands of Sean Strickland. The fight left a sour taste in the mouth of ‘The Last Stylebender’, and he told fans that he’d be taking some time off after that defeat.
Flash forward to the present day, and Adesanya has been teasing a 2024 return. Speaking to Teddy Atlas, ‘The Last Stylebender’ talked about his inner fire, and admitted it was still very much alive. In fact, he even went as far as to tell Atlas that he was having to contain his excitement to compete, rather than find it again.
However, Israel Adesanya is currently rehabbing a mysterious injury as well. Speaking to Combat TV, Adesanya was asked about injuries and was very purposefully vague in his response.
“Yeah, we’re good, we’re good,” he said in response to a question about injuries (H/T MMA Mania). “The difference is, a lot of people, when they get hurt in the game, they like to, ‘Ah, I got this injury and it’ll take this long to recover and whatnot.’ I’m like, ‘Why are you telling them?’ A smart coach who knows that injury exists will try and use it against you. I never like to let the enemy know what’s my next move.”
Ariel Helwani Claims Israel Adesanya Has Squashed UFC 300 Fight Rumors
Ariel Helwani came out to address the rumors about ‘The Last Stylebender’ fighting at UFC 300, and had this to say:
“I’ve inquired multiple times about Izzy leading up to all this,” Helwani claimed during The Ringer UFC 297 post-fight show. “And I’m repeatedly told ‘Not ready to go at UFC 300’ … Maybe the UFC now says ‘All right, how do we make this right, how do we get you to come fight at UFC 300?’ I don’t know.”
One thing is very clear, Adesanya does not seem opposed to the Dricus Du Plessis fight at all. On the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Adesanya wrote a deep and heartfelt post about his future opponent.
“IS~RA~EL ADÉSÀNYÀ,” the former champion began. “This arc in my story was written long ago. Our paths are destined to cross again. Stay tuned for the next episode, thanks for watching. We Write History.”
Do you think Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya will fight next?
