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African Champion

An image of a pre fight stare down between UFC Welter weight champion Dricus Du Plessis and former champion Isreal Adesanya
Image source:punchng.com


Stumbling on a news snippet of the most recent interaction between Israel Adesanya and defending UFC middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis, at a pre-fight press conference, it cast my mind back to an earlier take on identity. Du Plessis became champion by defeating Sean Strickland whom Adesanya had lost the belt to in 2023.

Du Plessis has described himself as the first African UFC champion, side stepping Israel Adesanya, Francis Ngannou and Kamaru Usman, other previous UFC champions whom he says are only of African decent. Du Plessis, for explication is caucasian South African while the others mentioned are black with Nigerian and Cameroonian heritages. He backs up his claim with the explanation that not only is he born and raised in Africa but he also trains with his team in Africa and has always lived and still lives in Africa. This is in contrast with the others, Israel Adesanya for instance who fights as a New Zealander in the UFC.

The two fighters, Adesanya and Du Plessis had been going at each other, particularly in the build up to their fight, trying to establish who is more authentically African. The South African champion had repeatedly teased Adesanya about his ‘privilege’, striking a nerve and causing Adesanya to tear up during their pre-fight conference.

The whole drama got me re-examining what it means to be African today, indeed what identity is comprised of today. While dual citizenship doesn’t overrule heritage, it appears some feel as though some sovereignty is ceded when one takes up another nationality. When asked if he would visit Africa in the near future, and Adesanya responded affirmatively, Du Plessis jibed, asking if he would be coming with his servants implying Adesanya's privileged standing.

Many people of different heritages often from the global south continue to struggle and fight for acceptance in the lands where they have found themselves in - often in the global North - where either their ancestors were sold to as slaves or their families have moved to in search of a better life. Perhaps then it shouldn’t be too bizarre to many that a white man lays claim to being an authentic African champion. After all, the legitimacy of Caucasian Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders or even Americans is no longer questioned as they have laid claim to lands which were ‘stolen’ by their forebearers after largely running off the original inhabitants.

No matter the role one’s forebears played in where they are today, many still fight to find and consolidate their identity. Identity today isn’t what it used to be just a hundred years ago; who can tell what it will be in a hundred to come? 

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