Expected to make his Octagon return at UFC 293 in September, current undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has claimed he is “motivated to kill” inside the Octagon, and put a bad beating on expected foe, Dricus du Plessis.
Adesanya, a two-time undisputed middleweight champion, most recently featured atop a tuFC 287 card back in April in Miami, Florida – avenged a prior loss to Alex Pereira, defeating the Brazilian with a second round KO to reclaim the middleweight crown.
As for du Plessis, the newly-minted number one ranked middleweight contender earned his title fight with Israel Adesanya before the close of the year at UFC 290 during International Fight Week earlier this month, stopping common-foe and former champion, Robert Whittaker with a second round TKO win.
Expected to challenge Adesanya for undisputed gold at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia on September 9. – du Plessis has been picked as a stern challenge for the City Kickboxing striker.
Israel Adesanya insists he’s motivated to “kill” in his return to the Octagon
And motivation for a bout with the South African native is far from lacking for Adesanya, with the latter claiming he is “motivated” to kill in his return to the Octagon before the end of 2023.
“I’ve never been more motivated to kill a man,” Israel Adesanya said on his YouTube channel of a fight with Dricus du Plessis. “When I say that, I mean like not to end his life, but to really put a beating on someone. Not emotional anger. Just really want to take time and really put a beating on someone and I’m going to work my way to get that done in all ways, all shapes, all angles, all aspects of the fight.”
Reflecing on his in-Octagon face-off with du Plessis at the above-mentioned UFC 290 event earlier this month, Adesanya claimed that he “lost my [his] sh*t” in his racially-charged tirade against the promotional-perfect Pretoria native.