Dricus Du Plessis isn't only traveling thousands of miles for his first title defense, but he's headed straight into Israel Adesanya's backyard. So, is the middleweight champ pissed off?!
Nope ... in fact, he tells us he would've preferred to fight in Izzy's own gym!
"I'm extremely happy," Du Plessis told TMZ Sports. "If I had it my way, I would have done it in Auckland, where he's from."
The champ added ... "If this was in his hometown, we could have done this fight in his gym, I would have loved it even more. Go out there and bring his head home on his home mats would've been perfect."
Of course, Du Plessis and Adesanya are headlining UFC 305 ... and there's clearly no lack of tension and trash talk between the UFC stars -- although the champ is adamant it's not personal for him.
"Fighting Israel has never been personal. Fighting Israel is purely, and why I wanted this fight so bad, it was purely the accomplishment, the achievement of beating, like you say, a guy that people consider one of the best to ever do it."
"I agree with those people 100%. And, that's what this fight's about for me. I don't care about anything. When you ask me what I think of him as a person, I don't know him well enough," the champ told us.
Note: we also recently asked Adesanya about his relationship (or lack thereof) with DDP ⬇️
On Saturday, the talk gives way to punches and kicks ... and many people around MMA believe Izzy is one of the greatest strikers the promotion has ever seen.
We asked Dricus if he could stand across from Adesanya and beat him ... and while Du Plessis was very complimentary of Israel's skills, he also believes there are holes in his game.
"100%, you know, you can't argue that the way he strikes, his striking is phenomenal. He is and has been, but the game is changing so fast," Dricus said, before explaining the best technical striker doesn't necessarily always win the fight in MMA.
"[Adesanya] got outstruck by Strickland five rounds to none, maybe five to four, and I went toe-to-toe with Strickland and beat him. It goes to show that when it comes to the striking, mine looks different. But, when it comes to being effective, I don't really care how it looks. You know, at the end of the day, I need my hand raised and that's what it's about."
FYI, Sean is one of the guy's common opponents. Strickland defeated Adesanya in September 2023 ... and then lost to Du Plessis a few months later in January 2024.
Before we signed off with Dricus, we asked him if he had a message for Israel. He kept it short and sweet.
"[Adesanya] said he's gonna show me who I am, and I can't wait to show him he has no idea who I am."
The score gets settled tonight.