The Pretoria native took the middleweight strap off the combative Sean Strickland at UFC 297 in January via a split decision, becoming the UFC's first South African champion.

But from Adesanya's point of view, it was supposed to be him in the cage against du Plessis.

After du Plessis' dominant win over Robert Whittaker in what was effectively a contender eliminator last year, Adesanya squared off with the South African in the cage, firing off an infamous expletive-laden rant to drum up tensions ahead of the potential fight.

Unfortunately for Adesanya, he failed to take care of business against Strickland and subsequently announced he was taking a hiatus from the fight game.

But du Plessis isn't ducking the future Hall of Famer and is hoping the UFC overlords can move forward on their much-talked-about plan to bring the UFC circus to Africa.

"Let's make UFC Africa, let's make that happen," said the 30-year-old on teammate Cameron Saaiman's podcast.

"That is what I would love, in an ideal situation, fighting Israel Adesanya on South African soil. Hosting that event and making history for Africa, for the UFC, for myself and for him… that's his heritage, he was born in Africa.

"If they want to do it this year, I will wait for that fight because that is the fight to make, that is a legacy fight for both of us.

"I think it would mean the world to do this in Africa. He claimed he'd drag my carcass around South Africa so let's make that happen. If it's not a possibility this year… that is the only thing that would make me wait. If not, I want to fight two more times this year."

While there may be some animosity between du Plessis and Adesanya, the champion admitted that he cannot take away his fighting accolades and the skill he still possesses.

"Regardless of what I think of him on a personal level, as a fighter, there's no way you can disrespect him, he is truly good," added du Plessis.

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