Adesanya to Du Plessis:' I call the shots,' will fight you on my conditions.

Adesanya to Du Plessis: I 'call the shots,' will fight on my conditions

UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya wants to fight Dricus Du Ples

sis but says he may not necessarily be next.

Adesanya was expected to face Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC), but after the South African fighter wasn’t healthy enough to make a quick turnaround, Sean Strickland was awarded the opportunity.

But with a pivotal middleweight clash between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa set for UFC 294 on October 21, Adesanya says it could be a long wait for Du Plessis if Chimaev beats Costa – a sentiment Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman echoed.

“Definitely (Chimaev could be next),” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Again, I do want to fight Dricus. But he has to know he’s not calling the shots here. That’s the thing, I am. So again, a guy who, ‘Oh, my foot is this. My foot’s that…’ But yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see.”

Adesanya has been one of the most active UFC champions in recent memory. His willingness to consistently compete comes from his understanding of how to maximize the time you have in the sport.

“You only have so much time in this game,” Adesanya said. “It’s about time. And I know I’m definitely past the halfway point of my career. I’ve still got some time left but I know, I’m past the halfway point. This is precious time.

“I can’t just, me personally, give these opportunities away because when it’s all said and done when you’re on your rocking chair in front of your property or trailer park or whatever, be looking back and be like did I take advantage of every opportunity that was given to me?”

Despite the relatively short notice announcement of Strickland’s injection into the main event, Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman added that knowing the opponent was never a concern. It was all about making the date regardless of who the promotion put in front of them.

 “We concentrated on the date and we talked about that very early on, we’re like okay at this stage, there’s no opponent locked in but it doesn’t matter,” Bareman said. “Just put a name on a bit of paper and put it in front of us and we’ll be there on the date”.