Israel Adesanya's returning to the Octagon for a scrap with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 ... and the former champ is now breaking down exactly where his beef stands with the current middleweight title holder.
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00:00What's it like being back, Izzy?
00:03Uh, well, it's only been, I think, what, 10 months, maybe,
00:08since September, but it has felt like ages.
00:11It's felt like three years because I'm...
00:13It has felt like a long time.
00:15I was fighting all the time.
00:17Every other month, I was fighting,
00:19so I know the games miss me, even though it goes by,
00:22because time waits for no man.
00:24But, yeah, I've missed the game, too.
00:27I miss this shit.
00:30What have you done, Israel?
00:32When you step in that octagon at 305,
00:34are you going to be the Israel Adesanya
00:36that everybody has watched?
00:38Are you a different fighter? Have you evolved?
00:40What do you look like when you get in there, Israel?
00:43Um, I forged myself into a weapon for this one.
00:46I'm definitely evolved.
00:48I'm definitely evolved.
00:50Uh, and just taking my time to heal myself,
00:54mind, body, and spirit.
00:56Taking my time and patience.
00:59Patience has been my friend throughout this whole thing.
01:02I'm a very patient man, so I'm able to just sit,
01:05watch, and plot.
01:08I heard you say it might have been earlier today
01:10or earlier this week that you have,
01:12for the first time, prepared like a proper athlete.
01:15I don't know if that's what you're eating,
01:17how you're training.
01:19Have you been preparing differently
01:21than you have in the past?
01:23No. Well, I mean, I've always been an athlete,
01:25so I could just...
01:27I mean, I just turned 35 years old,
01:29so I understand that I'm not, you know,
01:32a spring chicken, like a 24, 23-year-old anymore.
01:36But, um, yeah.
01:38Now, what I eat, you know,
01:40I don't just eat Uber Eats every meal,
01:42because I could do that when I was younger
01:44because it was easy and I didn't have to worry
01:46about my weight because, you know,
01:48fast metabolism, but now I have my friend
01:51and my chef, Matt, making me meals,
01:53whole foods, every day, you know.
01:56I actually have breakfast now before I go to train.
01:58Before, I'd just wake up, roll out of bed,
02:00fucking chuck my shit in my bag,
02:02go to the gym, kick ass,
02:04then go have breakfast around 11.30, you know.
02:07But, like, now I wake up, Matt's got my juice,
02:09my fucking beta-alanine,
02:12my supplements, breakfast ready,
02:14so I have that before I go train.
02:16Like, little things like that, that's what I'm saying.
02:18You're not putting that In-N-Out down anymore?
02:22Nah, well, I mean, like,
02:24I could eat out still, maybe, like,
02:26three weeks ago or two weeks ago
02:28if I felt like, not McDonald's or anything,
02:30but if I felt like, you know,
02:32some burger fuel or whatever,
02:35I could have that, but nah.
02:37Mainly just the lifestyle, little things.
02:40Also sleep, sleep as well,
02:42not being a fucking vamp life,
02:44being a night owl all the time.
02:46Sleep is a fucking motherfucker, man.
02:48It's good for you.
02:50It's so good for you.
02:52And these are things I've always known,
02:53but just never affected me
02:55because I just got away with it.
02:58So, yeah, now it's just, yeah,
03:01I'm living like a fucking athlete,
03:03like a proper athlete, and it's nice.
03:06From your perspective, Izzy,
03:08it's been some time, obviously,
03:10you know, things were really heated
03:12with you and Drikus, some time has passed.
03:15From your perspective, is there still,
03:17is there, like, an active beef?
03:19Is this just another guy that you're fighting
03:21like you have so many other challengers in the past?
03:24How do you look at Drikus
03:25and the personal relationship between you two?
03:30Yeah, it's not personal, personal.
03:33Like, it's not personal.
03:34I just want him to take accountability
03:36for his remarks.
03:39And I'm also glad my friend Razak,
03:43you know, Abdul Razak said it
03:45before his fight about three weeks ago,
03:47saying, like, you know,
03:49he's a bitch for what he said.
03:50He's a bitch, because Drikus is saying,
03:52I trained in Africa, I do this in Africa.
03:54And people like Razak and myself
03:57who are forced to flee our own country
03:59because of, you know, a better opportunity.
04:02He can't even, he'll never understand that
04:05because he lives behind the fucking gates
04:07of his privileged life in South Africa,
04:10and he's able to do that there.
04:11So someone like Francis,
04:12who had to cross the desert
04:14to go overseas to go train.
04:16If you know Francis' story,
04:17you can't call him not a real African champion
04:21because he, you know, he didn't train in Africa.
04:25It's like, bro, are you fucking kidding?
04:26The guy got sent back out to the desert
04:28six, seven times to go die,
04:30and he survived, you know?
04:32Like, the things he said,
04:34and even without Francis being champion,
04:36without myself being champion,
04:37without Kamaru being champion,
04:38he would have never been champion.
04:40We paved the way for him,
04:41and then he comes out there
04:42and tries to take it all for himself.
04:45I wonder where he got that from.
04:46What kind of mindset is that?
04:47Like, oh, I see this,
04:50and I want it all for myself.
04:51Like, oh, look at this beautiful land.
04:52Look at this.
04:53I want it all for myself.
04:54What kind of mindset is that?
04:55What kind of mindset is it
04:56that you see three African champions,
04:58and you're going to be the fourth one?
05:00You could have said, you know,
05:01it'd be a great honor to be
05:02part of the legends of African champions
05:05that have been in the UFC.
05:06He tries to say, take it all for himself.
05:08That's a colonialist mindset,
05:09and he doesn't understand the error of his ways,
05:12but I will show him the way.
05:14You know, there seems like
05:15there are some things that are said
05:17in the lead-up to fights,
05:18and then you all fight,
05:19and it's like, okay, cool.
05:20There are also things that are really serious
05:23and go beyond fighting.
05:24It seems like, you know,
05:25what he said might be one of those things
05:27where it's not just,
05:28hey, everything's cool after the fight.
05:30Not that you're going to try
05:31and kill him after the bell,
05:32you know, the final bell rings,
05:34but it seems like one of those things
05:35where, hey, you know,
05:36you're always going to remember.
05:38It's not something you're going to forget.
05:40I'll never forget
05:41what I'm, after the fight,
05:42I don't know.
05:44We'll see how we feel after the fight,
05:47but I'll never forget the three kings.
05:50You can never, ever discredit the three kings,
05:52and it's not even just because of the belts.
05:54Like what Francis said, fuck the belts.
05:57You're a champion
05:58because of the way you carry yourself
05:59and because of what you've been through in life.
06:01You know,
06:02Drukis will always be an African champion,
06:04but he will never be one of the three kings.
06:07What does it say, Israel,
06:09if anything,
06:10that this is your first fight back
06:12after a little layoff here.
06:13He's the guy who's the champion,
06:14but the thing's going down in your backyard.
06:16And what does that say about who the A-side is here?
06:20I mean,
06:23he knows who the A-side is.
06:24He said something,
06:25and no one gave a fuck.
06:27I dropped a post on my Instagram,
06:28the whole fucking internet.
06:29Oh, shit.
06:30Oh, the fight's on.
06:31And then the UFC had to release,
06:33announce the fight after I dropped.
06:34So there's one person who's controlling
06:36the narrative here,
06:37and that's me.
06:39I know you got to go.
06:41Is this a one-time deal
06:43or is this, you know,
06:44Israel Adesanya's back
06:46and you're fighting in the UFC
06:48and you're going to be active
06:49like you were in the past?
06:51Oh, I mean,
06:52this is not a one-time deal.
06:53I'm not done.
06:54Far from done in this game.
06:56I know I'm 35,
06:57but again,
06:58I'm having breakfast now.
06:59Breakfast.
07:00So, yeah.
07:02I know I can prolong myself in this game
07:05and actually close the show,
07:08close this chapter of my life
07:10in a big way,
07:11finish strong.
07:12So, yeah.
07:14I'm going to enjoy the next few years.
07:15The next couple of years,
07:16I'm going to enjoy.
07:17And I'm really going to suck everything in.