Heartbroken Israel Adesanya decries Dricus Du Plessis’ refusal to accept his challenge at UFC 300

Former UFC champion Israel Adesanya isn’t too happy with reigning champion Dricus Du Plessis’ refusal to compete at UFC 300.

The former middleweight champion, who lost his belt to Sean Strickland at UFC 293, was eagerly hoping to return to action against reigning champion du Plessis at the marquee event that goes down on Saturday.

In fact, “The Last Stylebender” had been training for around three to four weeks leading up to the revelation that a fight with Du Plessis at UFC 300 was off the table.

“I was heartbroken because I thought it was us and I was like, ‘Oh! they’ll announce, they’ll announce it and Tim [Adesanya’s manager] was holding out because he and Hunter, shoutout Hunter and Dana, they were like going back-and-forth and then. I'm glad Tim called me before they announced it, like, I think three minutes before they announced Jamahal [Hill] versus Alex [Pereira] because if I found out on Instagram, I would have been like, Dana would have got calls, because I was ready, I was training all that,” said Adesanya on "The MMA Hour". “I thought it was done. I was training in Switzerland for probably about four weeks, three weeks I was on. But yeah, for me, I just didn’t want to be scrolling and find out but Tim called and was like, 'Look, it's not you. I was just like, the pay-per-view just finished, and he called me and I'm just like, ‘What? No!’ Because I was expecting, like a trailer to be dropped announcing it and then I found out and I was like ‘Oh man!’ So, I was like whatever, it is what it is.”

When asked about how he felt about the reasoning behind Du Plessis’ refusal to compete at UFC 300 due to an injury, Adesanya responded.

“They're not built like us. It's different... Okay, So, I wasn't even fully healed. I'm taking time off. And when the opportunity presented itself, I was like, ‘F—k it's history. This is monumental, UFC 300. F—ing let's do it.' But again, they’re not built like us. Myself, Alexander Volkanovski, Kamaru Usman. When we were champions, just f—k it, just fight. F-k the belt. I got belts at home. Even fans, whenever they see me now, they go, ‘Oh man I hope you get that belt back.’ B—h, they’re at the house, I'm a two-time middleweight champion. Soon to be three. It’s at the house. It’s not about the belt. I’m coming for the heads. Right now, it's about fighting while you can. But he’s young, he's done what he’s done, got this far, become champion so good on him. But yeah, it is what it is, you wanna hold on to that belt and be cozy. That’s your prerogative. But yeah, when we were doing it, f—k the belt. It’s about fighting the best and that’s it.”

Du Plessis has expressed interest in facing Adesanya at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia on August 17.