Reigning 185-pound champion Israel Adesanya and No. 1-ranked middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis were tasked with hyping up a potential showdown for UFC 293, but may have gone a little too far in the trash talking department once their respective tirades shifted from MMA competition to African lineage.
Even current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones was uncomfortable.
“That sh*t was … bro … I mean, I don’t want to talk sh*t because me and Izzy have just become friends or whatever, but I was uncomfortable,” Jones told Overdogs Podcast. “As a black man, I was uncomfortable my damn self. That was just weird.”
Once bitter rivals, Jones and Adesanya settled their beef earlier this year.
The trash talk between Adesanya and Du Plessis was all for naught, as “Stillknocks” eventually passed on the opportunity to fight for the strap. The promotion was forced to pivot and elevated Sean Strickland to UFC 293 headliner a week from Sat. night at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia (more on that fight here).
For the rest of the UFC 293 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
