Michael Bisping believes we will see the “most dangerous” version of Israel Adesanya yet at UFC 305.
After surrendering his middleweight title in September, ‘The Last Stylebender’ took a leave from fighting to rest and reflect. On Saturday, August 17, his time of reflection will be over as he returns to the Octagon determined to claim the 185-pound crown for the third time — something nobody has ever done in the division.
Standing in his way will be newly minted middleweight king Dricus Du Plessis, who took the title off Sean Strickland in January, four months after ‘Tarzan’ put on a dominant five-round showing against Adesanya to snatch the belt away.
But before all of that, Adesanya and Du Plessis engaged in a racially charged face-off following the latter’s win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 last year.
That put the pair of African superstars on a collision course before it was temporarily derailed by Strickland’s sensational showing a couple of months later.
With their middleweight title fight now back on track and scheduled to headline the promotion’s return to Perth, Du Plessis and Adesanya once again traded barbs during Tuesday’s UFC 305 on-sale press conference, with Du Plessis saying afterward that Adesanya is “trying to convince himself that he still wants to be here.”
Offering his take on the war of words between Adesanya and Du Plessis, former middleweight titleholder Michael Bisping suggested that all ‘Stillknocks’ is doing with his talk is coaxing out what could be one of the nastiest versions of the ‘Stylebender’ we’ve ever seen inside the Octagon.
“That’s kind of harsh words for Israel Adesanya to hear, and for Israel, that’s going to motivate him big time,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “That’s going to piss him off. That’s going to grind his gears. That’s going to get in his head. That is going to force him to train his ass off, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see one of the most dangerous, nasty versions of Israel Adesanya that we’ve seen” (h/t MMA Junkie).
Michael Bisping reminds everyone what happened the last time Israel Adesanya lost in the UFC
The last time Israel Adesanya suffered a big loss inside the Octagon came at UFC 281 when he lost the middleweight strap via a fifth-round KO at the hands of longtime rival Alex Pereira.
Five months later, the ‘Stylebender’ struck back, scoring a massive knockout of ‘Poatan’ in the second round of their UFC rematch, becoming the first fighter in UFC history to claim the division title twice.
“Last time he was embarrassed against Alex Pereira, what did he do? He came back and he knocked out Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira – the [current] bell of the ball, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters, a two-weight champion, and the biggest star in all of mixed martial arts,” Bisping said.
“That’s another thing: Don’t think that that’s not pissing Izzy off, either. Of course, it is. Izzy was the man. Now he’s fallen off. Somebody else has got his belt. His former opponent, his former rival, his former nemesis is now who Izzy was. is now the biggest star in the sport. Everyone’s loving the guy. That is pissing Izzy off, as well. So as I say, I think he’s going to be very, very dangerous.”
Will history repeat itself, or will ‘DDP’ solidify his spot as the middleweight division’s top dog? Only time will tell.
