New middleweight champion Drexus du Plessis has shed more light on a viral video of him sparring with Alexander Volkanovski, revealing he also toured and wrestled with Israel Adesanya a decade ago.
Du Plessis, who became South Africa's first UFC champion last weekend, says he “destroyed” Adesanya in those sessions.
Footage has emerged of the 19-year-old Du Plessis, with only two professional fights under his belt, sparring Volkanovski – who had not yet made his UFC debut at the time – in the lead-up to DDP's title fight with Shawn. Strickland.
The pair were seen fighting in Thailand, before Adesanya appeared in the footage, moving with another fighter.
Adesanya posted the short clip on his social media when Du Plessis called him out immediately after his split decision win over Sean Strickland.
“Stylbender” hinted at a future confrontation between the duo by captioning the clip: “This arc in my story was written long ago. Our paths are destined to cross once again.
“Wait for us in the next episode. Thank you for watching. We are writing history.”
Du Plessis says he remembers those training sessions in Thailand well, and revealed there is more to the story.
“I remember that meeting – Izzy and I, we trained together too,” Du Plessis said in the key announcement. “I remember he said I beat him on the ground – in wrestling – and he split me standing.
“I remember — I have a good memory — and I know for a fact that we didn't get a single inning of strikes.
“We just practiced wrestling and grappling. And I destroyed him.”
“My brother and I are four years older than me, and we often talk about it. He remembers it, too.
“It wasn't a battle when it came to wrestling and grappling, and obviously he (Adesanya) has improved a lot, but so have I – that was 10 years ago.”
Du Plessis joked that there was no vision of him working with Adesanya from those sessions.
“This footage doesn’t exist properly,” he laughed.
The long-awaited grudge match between du Plessis and former champion Adesanya is the next logical fight for the UFC.
The pair were initially scheduled to fight at UFC 293 in Sydney after Adesanya faced Du Plessis in the cage moments after DDP's win over Rob Whittaker in July.
An injury ruled “Still Knocks” out of that bout, but du Plessis still wants the fight to happen.
“We owe it to the people who are fighting,” Du Plessis said in this major announcement.
Du Plessis raised the possibility of the fight being the headliner of the first-ever UFC card in Africa, but he also kept the door open for a fight at April's blockbuster UFC 300 show in Las Vegas.
“I'm bummed out now, but I'm ready for another round now,” he said after his win over Strickland. “I don't want to put a timeline on it, but UFC 300 looks amazing.”
Adesanya has been sidelined since his loss to Strickland in September, but if he is not available to fight du Plessis, the new champion has no shortage of potential title challengers.
Former middleweight champion and current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has hinted that he would be interested in another title fight at 185 pounds, while Khamzat Chimaev is gunning for the title belt.
Australian Rob Whittaker could also prove he is still a major player in the division with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 298 next month.
