Dricus Du Plessis became the new Middleweight champion at UFC 297 last night (Sat., Jan 20., 2024), defeating Sean Strickland via razor-thin split decision from inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (watch highlights).
After his bloody win, Du Plessis called for a fight against African rival, Israel Adesanya, during his in-cage, post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.
Checkout the call out below:
A few hours after UFC 297 concluded, Adesanya released a mysterious message on social media that looked like a tease of his return.
“ISRAEL ADESANYA This arc in my story was written long ago,” Adesanya wrote on Twitter. “Our paths are destined to cross again. Stay tuned for the next episode, thanks for watching. We Write History.”
✨IS~RA~EL ADÉSÀNYÀ‼️
This arc in my story was written long ago. Our paths are destined to cross again. Stay tuned for the next episode, thanks for watching.
We Write History ✨✍ pic.twitter.com/c5EHGWBjlL— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) January 21, 2024
In his tweet, there is a clip from 2016 of Adesanya bumping into Du Plessis while he was sparring with Alexander Volkanovski, the infamous UFC 290 post-fight spat they got into, and a promo of “The Last Stylebender.”
While he doesn’t explicitly say he is returning, the message seems to push the narrative that he is coming back soon, which would be ideal because there is a real possibility of Adesanya vs. Du Plessis headlining UFC 300 (if Du Plessis passes medicals).
Adesanya has been out of action and relatively out of the spotlight since his Middleweight title loss to Strickland at UFC 293 in Sept. 2023 (he was also missing from UFC 297). If Adesanya does return and fights Du Plessis, there is an incredible story between the that must be resolved.
For complete UFC 297 results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
