Ghanaian UFC fighter Abdul Razak Alhassan has defended fellow African fighters who have been criticized for leaving the continent to succeed, likening his own desire to succeed to being willing to amputate a limb for a chance to get to America.
Alhassan was taking part in a UFC pre-event press conference when a reporter asked him what he thought about the debate over who the “real champion of Africa” was.
The reporter was referring to South African fighter Dricus du Plessis, the current UFC middleweight champion. Du Plessis has said he plans to fight in 2023:The first true African champion“He was trained, born, [and] It was bred in Africa.”
Of course, this would exclude other African-born UFC champions such as Kamaru “Usman” Usman, Israel “Adesanya” Adesanya and Francis “Ngannou” Ngannou, who du Plessis felt had emigrated to other countries to live and train and would therefore not be staying true to their African roots by remaining on the continent.
“If he was a true African, he would understand that.”
Alhassan said he respects du Plessis and the way he has promoted Africa but is extremely upset by some of the comments he has made about other fighters.
“I respect what he’s done in MMA, but he really sucks,” he said at UFC Denver. Media Day.
“He’s a really horrible guy for using that word. If he was a real African and lived in Africa, he would never use that word. He’s a really horrible guy for using that word, because if he grew up with poor people in Africa, [he would know better]”
Alhassan detailed to reporters her struggle with poverty, including going without food for days.
“I’d see my friends eating and I’d be like, ‘Hey, can I have a spoonful of your food? [it in] Through mouth?’ That’s how I’ll survive for a few days until I get some money,” he explained.
The middleweight boxer further expressed his deep gratitude to countries like the United States, saying that like any other boxer, if he had the opportunity to work and train in a better country, he would welcome the chance.
“So if I had the opportunity to leave that shitty country — I’m not trying to call my country a shitty country, but I’m poor — to go to America or to another country to have a better life, I would cut my leg off and go. If he was a true African, he would have understood that. I mean, he lived a comfortable life. His family had the money to feed him every day, so he didn’t have to worry about living abroad.”
Du Plessis has had several public feuds with fellow African and former champion Adesanya and continues to insist that he and his training partners are the true Africans.
“We breathe African air, we wake up in Africa every day, we train in Africa, we were born in Africa, we grew up in Africa. We still live in Africa, we still train in Africa. That’s what African champions are and that’s what I intend to be.”
Alhassan will fight on the UFC Denver card on July 13, 2024.
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