Israel Adesanya was upset about missing the chance to fight in UFC 300 due to Dricus du Plessis‘s unavailability, but his manager, Tim Simpson, remains hopeful that a title fight against du Plessis can be booked for UFC 305.
Israel Adesanya, the twice-crowned UFC middleweight champ, is not a happy camper. He missed out on a shot at UFC 300, one of the biggest cards in the history of the sport.
The event, held on Saturday, boasted a lineup teeming with current and former champions. But Adesanya? He wasn’t among them. He’d been vocal about wanting to take on champ Dricus du Plessis. Unfortunately, du Plessis couldn’t make the April 13 date, fresh off a grueling five-round bout with Sean Strickland at UFC 297 in January.
Du Plessis himself confirmed his decision not to fight Adesanya at UFC 300. This choice didn’t sit well with “The Last Stylebender,” as per his manager, Tim Simpson.
“Israel was pretty miffed about the whole thing,” Simpson shared on The MMA Hour. Concurrent discussions about him and fellow Simpson client Leon Edwards were happening, and Simpson thought, “Damn, one of them’s gonna miss out.” Adesanya was ready and raring. But having both of them on the card? Simpson doubted it. “It would’ve been epic, though,” he mused. “Israel was in. They were working on [du Plessis for the belt].”
“Dricus, on the other hand, wasn’t ready,” Simpson continued. “He’d had some sort of procedure post his last fight. This is what Israel and [coach] Eugene [Bareman] have publicly stated. But man, Israel really wanted it. He was upset. He loves big moments, like a title fight comeback. It was down to the wire, I’d say, within a few hours before they announced [Jamahal] Hill and [Alex] Pereira. I was texting [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell] and couldn’t get it done on Dricus’ side, but Izzy was ready to go.”
When du Plessis was declared unavailable, Simpson’s team considered a trilogy bout with Adesanya’s longtime rival and current light heavyweight champ, Alex Pereira. But alas, no discussions materialized.
Simpson remains hopeful, though. He’s confident Adesanya can book a title fight against du Plessis at the upcoming UFC 305 card on Aug. 17 in Perth. But he’s prepared to wait for the official announcement as the UFC finalizes its next wave of pay-per-views.
“Hopefully,” Simpson said, referring to Adesanya finally facing off with du Plessis. “I think they’ll announce venues this week. They like to announce fights in chronological order. They’ve got to lock in whatever’s happening in June, July, and then August. But I can’t see why you wouldn’t do it. Both guys say they’re interested, it makes sense. South Africa’s very close to Perth—it’s a direct flight.”
Adesanya is fresh off a self-imposed hiatus, following a disappointing loss to Strickland in September that cost him the middleweight belt. Regardless, Simpson is confident his client can step right back into a title shot. He believes there’s more than enough support for the grudge match.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Simpson said. “Hate is so visceral online. It’s much easier to hear negativity online than positivity. But I think if you could somehow take a real-life poll, the majority of people would say, ‘Yeah, that’s the right fight.’ Online, it’s easy to focus on the negative. Sure, that opinion may be heard, but I think the actual opinion of fight fans, the people interested, would be overwhelmingly it’s Adesanya, right?”