It took a some animosity for ex-UFC champion Daniel Cormier to see this weekend’s main event as a matchup worth getting excited for.
Middleweight kingpin Dricus Du Plessis will put his title on the line for the first time in the headliner of the UFC 305 pay-per-view, where he’s tasked with stalling the three-time champ ambitions of Israel Adesanya.
The pair will enter the cage inside the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, in the culmination of a feud sparked well over a year ago as a result of some controversial remarks from the then-future titleholder.
In one of his early post-fight interviews in the UFC, “Stillknocks” branded himself the promotion’s “real African” fighter, referring to his continued stay in the continent. He reiterated that sentiment in regard to his pursuit of gold, vowing to become the first champion who was born, resides, and trains in Africa.
The comments resulted in some tense exchanges with Adesanya, who recently berated his opponent’s “colonialist mindset” at the start of UFC 305 fight week.
With that in mind, the sensitive nature of their bad blood shows no sign of waning as fight night approaches, and one former champ doesn’t see that as a bad thing…
Cormier: ‘I Want To See The Fight’ Because Of Du Plessis & Adesanya’s Feud
During a recent episode of his Good Guy / Bad Guy show alongside Chael Sonnen on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, Cormier looked ahead to this weekend’s PPV headliner Down Under.
In terms of the animosity between the pair ever since Adesanya took issue with Du Plessis’ words, Cormier suggested that in spite of the “uncomfortable” nature of the bad blood, it’s still taken his interest in the matchup from zero to 100.
“You don’t wanna say the wrong thing because it’s so easy to offend people on either side of the coin,” Cormier said. “When he (Du Plessis) said it, I thought he would kind of walk it back because of Usman and because of Ngannou and because of Izzy. He’s not walking it back. He’s standing on his idea that he’s the only true African champion. I don’t know that I’d agree…but for me, more importantly than all of that, I want to see the fight.
“If you would have told me, Chael, before all of this…all of this stuff that makes it so hot, that makes it so uncomfortable, I can seriously say to you I wasn’t very interested in those two guys fighting,” Cormier continued. “Now though, Chael, I am so interested in these two fighting because there’s something there. I love great fighters fighting each other, but when there’s a little bit extra, that is what draws me in as a fan. … This one this weekend has two of the best middleweights in the world, but they also have that bad blood, and it makes it fun.”
Du Plessis and Adesanya will finally have the chance to settle their grudge within the steel surroundings of the cage this weekend, 13 months on from their heated faceoff during International Fight Week.
