Israel Adesanya is on the ground in Las Vegas for UFC 300, just as he expected.

Instead of headlining Saturday’s historic card in a grudge match against UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis, however, he’ll just be watching the fights from the stands.

“I was heartbroken, because I thought it was us,” Adesanya said Friday on The MMA Hour.

”I’m glad [my manager] Tim [Simpson] called me before they announced it, like I think three minutes before they announced Jamahal [Hill] versus Alex [Pereira], because if I had found out [the news] on Instagram, I would’ve been like — Dana [White] would’ve gotten calls. Because I was ready. I was training. All that. I thought it was done. I was training, I was in Switzerland, I was training probably about four weeks, three weeks. I was on.”

Adesanya, 34, was rumored for months to be the frontrunner to headline UFC 300 opposite du Plessis before the card’s main event went to a light heavyweight title bout between UFC champ Alex Pereira and former champ Jamahal Hill. Adesanya’s manager, Tim Simpson, revealed Thursday on The MMA Hour that Adesanya was “very upset” by the news.

Du Plessis recently stated that he made the call not to fight at UFC 300 because he was still dealing with a foot injury stemming from his January title win over Sean Strickland. Du Plessis added in regards to Adesanya, “You are summoned when I say you’re summoned.”

On Friday, “The Last Stylebender” couldn’t help but scoff at the champ’s claims.

“They’re not built like us. It’s different,” Adesanya said. “I wasn’t even fully healed. I’m taking time off, and when the opportunity presented itself, I was like, ‘F***, it’s history. It’s this is monumental. UFC 300, f*** it, let’s do it.’ But again, they don’t do it like us. Myself, Alex Volkanovski, Kamaru Usman — we were guys, when we were champions, just f*** it, just fight. F*** the belt. I’ve got belts at home. Even fans, whenever they see me, they’re like, ‘Oh man, I hope you get that belt back.’ I’m like, ‘B****, they’re at the house.’ I’m a two-time middleweight champion. Soon to be three. It’s at the house. It’s not about the belt.

“I’m coming for their heads. Right now it’s about fighting while you can. But he’s young, he’s done what he’s done, got this far, become champion. So good on him. But yeah, it is what it is. You want to hold onto that belt and be cozy, that’s your prerogative. But yeah, when we were doing that, f*** the belt, it was just about fighting the best and that’s it.”

With UFC 300 off the board, du Plessis and Adesanya are now expected to face off sometime later this year. Both fighters have floated the upcoming UFC 305 event on Aug. 17 in Perth as a possible landing spot for the bout.

If that’s the case, it’ll mark the longest layoff of Adesanya’s UFC career. The former champ has not competed since his September 2023 loss to Sean Strickland, but Adesanya admitted Friday that setback taught him a valuable lesson about not rushing into every opportunity with as short of a turnaround as possible. He repeatedly emphasized quality over quantity with the final stretch run of fights he has left in his career, and targeted three opponents in particular who would interest him most: Du Plessis, Strickland, and most surprisingly Khamzat Chimaev, the last of whom faces Robert Whittaker on June 22.

“If Khamzat beats Rob, I want to test that,” Adesanya said.

“I like that [Whittaker fight for Chimaev], because I want to see what he can do. I’m excited. I like fights like that. I want to see what he can do actually at middleweight against a tough guy. I saw him fight Kamaru [Usman], and I watched that fight, I was like, ‘Yo, Kamaru f****** had him.’ If that was five rounds, that might’ve been a different fight.

“Gilbert Burns was the one that made me kind of respect him, because it showed his heart,” Adesanya added. “I think he got a dropped, came back and won that fight. So yeah, I’m excited to see what can happen in that fight. And then yeah, we’ll see what happens.”

One name notably absent from Adesanya’s list, however, is the man who ultimately stole away UFC 300’s main-event slot. Adesanya and Pereira share plenty of history, having competed four times against one another across kickboxing and MMA. Pereira won the first three bouts, culminating in a stunning fifth-round knockout of Adesanya in 2022 to capture the UFC middleweight title. But Adesanya had the last laugh, scoring 2023’s Knockout of the Year with a dramatic second-round revenge win to reclaim the belt at UFC 287.

Pereira called out Adesanya for an MMA rubber match after winning the light heavyweight belt in November, but “The Last Stylebender” simply isn’t interested.

“I know I only have a certain amount of fights left,” Adesanya said. “OK, if I beat Alex next — I fight him, knock him the f*** out again — what are they going to say? ‘OK, no, it’s 3-2 now. OK, let’s let’s best out of seven.’ Like, who am I fighting for? It wasn’t about fighting for anyone else for me. I always fought this guy and I knew I could beat this guy. I always knew I could beat this guy. So I was like, ‘I just want to prove to myself I can beat him,’ and beat him in the best way possible, on the biggest stage. And the story behind that about showing what what someone can accomplish when they put their mind to something, even after they’ve been knocked down three times, that was the main thing.

“Even for him, you know why they’re asking for the fight? Because they need it. You know why I don’t ask for the fight? Because I don’t need it. And in their hearts, all the Poatards out there, in their hearts, they know — they know who’s laughing best, and that’s why I sit pretty and I’m enjoying myself. So again, I did what I did, that saga’s over. It’s cool. I’ve got some other beef to avenge later on down the track.”