Video: DDP offers Adesanya special gift and shows respect to his family in touching moment backstage after UFC 305
18/08/2024 15:45
All the bad blood; all the horrible insults; and all of the anger is now water under the bridge for middleweights Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya, who shared a touching moment backstage after their main event fight in Australia.
In a scene reminiscent of when Kamaru Usman broke down in tears hugging Tyron Woodley's mother after his own UFC title win, Dricus Du Plessis shared a touching moment of respect as he apologized to the Adesanya family following his title win in Perth.
Dricus Du Plessis gifts Israel Adesanya his South African jacket after UFC 305
Following his fourth-round submission victory, Dricus Du Plessis would look to bury the hatchet with 'Stylebender' in his post-fight interview as the South African apologized for any offense he may have caused in the build-up to UFC 305.
"For me, [it was an honor] to share this octagon with a legend, not potentially, but a 100 percent Hall of Famer… I’m really sorry it came across that I disrespected the fact that he was from Africa. That was never my intention. Now tonight, Africa would have won regardless.
"It was an honor for me to share this cage with a legend like that," stated Du Plessis, adding how "I have the utmost respect for him" as both a fighter and a person.
That respect would continue well into the night with the most touching moment of the entire event coming from a backstage interaction between the two that was caught on camera after UFC 305 came to its conclusion.
In the video, as shared online by Submission Radio, Dricus Du Plessis gifts Israel Adesanya the custom-made South Africa-themed jacked he was wearing at the press conference, with 'Stylebender' being enamored with the gesture – raising DDP's hand and stating "Respect, an African champion."
Du Plessis would then take a moment to speak with Israel Adesanya's family and whilst much of the conversation is inaudible, you can hear 'Stillknocks' thanking his parents for "raising a warrior."
Dricus Du Plessis opens up on post-fight interaction with Adesanya's family
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, Dricus Du Plessis would open up on why he gifted his custom jacket to Adesanya, and why he felt the need to speak to the family of the iconic former champion.
"Let me tell you this, at the end of the day, what I said was never [meant] to challenge Israel or any other African fighter on being the first African fighter…I never went after this family, so I just said after the fight [that] if it sounded like I was saying anything bad about your parents, that was not the case.
"I will never disrespect your parents, and he said he understands that" stated the middleweight champion, before noting that despite not seeing eye-to-eye, there was no way that he couldn't have buried the hatchet after such an amazing fight.
"We're not friends because on a personal level, we do not see eye-to-eye, but warrior-to-warrior and after spending time [with him] in that octagon and what he's achieved in the sport, you can't not respect that man.
"To give him that jacket was a reminder, a token of appreciation and a thank you for this, it's a memory for me, it's such a massive moment in my life, [and] I brought the jacket here specifically to give it to him."
Du Plessis explained that he planned on gifting the jacket to Adesanya whether he'd won or lost the middleweight title "because he said he wants to fight warriors from all the lands, and I respect that.
"I wanted to give him that as a token of appreciation of fighting, giving me that amazing fight, bringing the best out of me and also as something to remember this magic moment of an all-African main event."
Two iconic middleweights, one iconic night in Perth.
