Israel Adesanya, 33, of Auckland, New Zealand and Dricus du Plessis, 29, of Hatfield, Pretoria, South Africa are two of the best African mixed martial artists currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Adesanya has been living in New Zealand since 1999.

Adesanya reigned as the UFC Middleweight Champion from October 6, 2019 to November 12, 2022. On April 8, 2023, he reclaimed the title by dethroning then champion Alex Pereira, 35, of São Paulo, Brazil in their rematch at ““UFC 287” in Miami, Florida, United States.

A day after “UFC 287”, du Plessis took to Twitter to give a message to Adesanya. The South African MMA fighter commented on the fact that he was never mentioned by the reigning UFC Middleweight Champion after reclaiming the title.

Du Plessis implied that the entire Africa is rooting for him while Adesanya depends on the support of New Zealand. The latter has yet to respond.

Currently, du Plessis is ranked sixth among the UFC middleweight contenders. After being dethroned, Pereira became number one.

Losing to Adesanya at “UFC 287” downgraded Pereira’s professional MMA record to 7 wins and 2 losses. Adesanya now has 24 wins and 2 losses.

With 19 wins and 2 losses, du Plessis has been undefeated since 2019. Between October 2020 and March 2023, he defeated five UFC opponents namely Markus Perez, Trevin Giles, Brad Tavares, Darren Till and Derek Brunson.