Israel Adesanya enters the octagon for a face-of with next middleweight title challenger after the biggest win of his career

Dricus du Plessis shockingly secured a second-round knockout win over former 185lb titleholder Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 on Saturday night.

Du Plessis stopped Robert Whittaker inside two roundsCredit: Getty

It was the biggest win of his careerCredit: Getty

As the South African star celebrated his epic victory, the camera panned to Adesanya who was stoically staring down the number one middleweight contender.

Du Plessis talked up his cardio during a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan before Adesanya entered the cage and things got heated.

The Nigeria-born New Zealander got in his next opponent’s face but insisted the confrontation with his ‘African brother’ would not get physical.

‘Stylebender’ went on to make a series of statements about race which has been at the forefront of his budding rivalry with du Plessis.

Adesanya was sitting cageside at UFC 290Credit: Getty

Things got ugly when he squared off with du PlessisCredit: UFC

“We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa, we’re African born, we’re African raised, we still reside in Africa, we train out of Africa – that’s an African champion, and that’s who I’ll be.”

Away from his divisive comments about Africa, du Plessis has impressed fans since joining the UFC in October 2020.

The former KSW welterweight champion picked up big wins over Derek Brunson, Darren Till, Brad Tavares, and Trevin Giles before facing Whittaker.

It’s expected he will fight Adesanya at UFC 293 in Sydney on September 10.

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