Back to the MMA Newsfeed

Israel Adesanya reveals prior sparring session with UFC rival Dricus du Plessis: ‘I just messed him up’

Undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has revealed he previously sparred with arch-rival, Dricus du Plessis years ago – claiming that when it came to striking exchanges between the two, he “messed up” the South African.

Adesanya, the current and two-time undisputed middleweight champion, most recently headlined UFC 287 back in April of this year, successfully reclaiming the divisional crown with a stunning second round KO win over Alex Pereira in the pair’s UFC rematch.

As for du Plessis, the Pethora native most recently improved to 6-0 since his transition to the UFC back in 2020, securing a second round corner’s stoppage TKO win over common-opponent, Derek Brunson at UFC 285 in March.