UFC: Perth lights up as Dricus Du Plessis and Isreal Adesanya face off

The two have had a public spat since the South African burst onto the scene and ultimately took over the MMA crown when he defeated Sean Strickland in January. 

Du Plessis didn’t mince his words when asked about his first title defense against Adesanya, the New Zealand athlete with Nigerian descent. 

"Despite every single fight, I fight the way I fight, and you can hear I'm a crowd favourite – I make the crowd make noise, and that's what I'm here to do," said Du Plessis.

"I don't have to make it an ugly fight, I will be making it an ugly fight, and I can make it a pretty fight – I'm winning the fight, that, at the end of the day, is what's going to happen.

"On a personal note, I don't know Israel Adesanya. What he says, I don't like, and the way he approached this whole thing, this whole fight that was being made, I don't like it at all.

"He comes to me as a fighter, the man is great, he's done great things, it's just time for me to take over – like I have, and that's why I'm the champion of the world."

READ: Dricus du Plessis on being tased by coach: It's a South African sticky note

Du Plessis vowed to go into the hexagon with a mindset that he was starting all over as he aims to hold on to his belt. 

"I think I heard the whole thing, but let me tell you this, I didn't need extra motivation to do this. I have the same motivation as I had when I won that belt, and the same motivation I had when I made my UFC debut, it's the same I have now as a champion," he added.

"At the end of the day, I don't come in here as somebody who needs to change anything because I have the belt – no, no, I'm not going to 'defend' my belt, I'm going to keep on fighting like I never had that belt.

"Once I walk in there [hexagon], that belt is given to an official and its nobody's belt until it's given to the winner at the end of that fight, so during the fight, it's nobody's belt and I'm willing to die and take a life for this belt."