The UFC has placed the bitter cultural dispute between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya front and centre of its build-up to the promotion’s first ever all-African title fight in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Adesanya, who has talked of his “beautiful childhood” in Lagos before moving to New Zealand as a 10-year-old, has accused Du Plessis of disrespecting the so-called ‘African Kings’.
The title was one given to the 35-year-old alongside Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou when the trio all held UFC belts.
“Did those belts ever go to Africa?” Du Plessis retorted, having become South Africa’s first UFC champion in January.
The 30-year-old believes the fact that Adesanya, Usman and Ngannou all live and train overseas lessens their right to call themselves African champions.
After Du Plessis beat Robert Whittaker in July last year he squared up to Adesanya in the octagon in an altercation one commentator dubbed “the battle for Africa”.
Adesanya, who fights out of New Zealand, has said beating Du Plessis is more important than winning a middleweight title he has twice held before.
His opponent has repeatedly countered that he is the true African champion because he is based on the continent.
As well as a compelling contest for bragging rights, the fight carries significance for the future of mixed martial arts (MMA) in Africa, amid UFC president Dana White’s plans to hold events there.
Africa’s future fighters
At the Wellness Martial Arts Academy inside the National Stadium in Lagos, coach John Anene has seen fighters eager to follow in the footsteps of Adesanya and Usman, who is nicknamed the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’.
For now, he says, MMA is progressing rather than thriving in Nigeria, with no existing system to train fighters to become rounded across key skills such as striking and groundwork.
“Facilities are still a challenge for most of us,” Anene told BBC Sport Africa.
“But do we have athletes who can make us proud? Yes, we have a lot of strong people here.”
Ngannou’s charitable foundation built and opened Cameroon’s first full MMA gym in 2019, and Usman announced plans in 2022 to create a facility at the University of Lagos.
Du Plessis trains at the CIT Performance Institute in Pretoria, where coach Stephan de la Rey says his success has had an “unbelievable” impact on public perceptions of the sport.
He has seen a boost in both participation and confidence that newcomers can build a career in MMA.
“The number of young kids coming through the door and the number of memberships because of him is a fairytale story,” said De la Rey.
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