Dana White has addressed the backlash Israel Adesanya has gotten over his outburst at UFC 290 on Saturday night.
Adesanya, who is not known for taking the high road very often, jumped into the cage to confront rival Dricus Duplesses after his TKO victory over Robert Whittaker and unleashed a rant filled with N-words specifically aimed at Du Plessis’ claim stating he is the “rea African” fighter. Du Plessis hails from South Africa.
You could see the exchange in the video right below:
White was questioned about the incident in the post-fight presser and defended the middleweight champion.
“He’s black, who gives a S-,” White remarked. “I could care less, this is the fight business, Israel Adesanya can say whatever he wants to say, who gives a S-, why are people B-ing about that? Of course they are…too F-ing bad.”
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Du Plessis has also offered a reaction, branding Adesanya a clown.
“He’s behaving like a clown in there. That’s not how a champion behaves. That’s not at all how a man behaves. He’s behaving like a child. Conduct yourself like a champion,” he advised. “There’s people looking up to you, and you’re behaving like that. If that sells tickets, good for him. I’ll sell tickets in my way. I’m a gentleman, I’m a man, and I’ll behave like a man.”
The South African rubbed Adesanya the wrong way when he compared his African residency to that of Adesanya, who lives in New Zealand. He has since defended himself against the resulting criticism, stating he never explicitly said he would be “more African” than Adesanya.
Evidently, the champ wasn’t satisfied with the explanation.
