Tag: Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya predicts Alex Pereira will finish Khalil Rountree at UFC 307

Israel Adesanya finds it hard to pick against Alex Pereira at UFC 307.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] finds it hard to pick against [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] at UFC 307.

Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) defends his light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree (14-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in Saturday’s main event at Delta Center in Salt Lake City (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).

Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) knows firsthand how good Pereira is. The pair fought four times – twice in kickboxing and twice in MMA, with Adesanya finally getting his hand raised by knockout at UFC 287. Although Adesanya has picked against Pereira multiple times before, he thinks Rountree’s approach won’t find too much success against “Poatan.”

“I’ll go Pereira because of momentum right now,” Adesanya said on “The Adam Carolla Show.” “Rountree doesn’t grapple. He likes to kickbox. He’s never gone for a takedown. If you’re going to do that with Pereira – I’m the only one who’s ever even rocked him or like stood with him in the UFC. Everyone else, he’s washed. Rountree, if he can make it dirty and catch him, he can catch him, but it’s so hard to do it to Pereira.

“Rountree, his reach may not be able to get to him. Pereira likes to use his long reach to frame. … This weekend I’m going to go Pereira, and I’m going to go TKO or KO. I don’t know what round, but I just feel like it’ll be hard for Rountree. Leg kicks, leg kicks, and he might catch him as Rountree comes in because Rountree is going to be attacking him.”

Chael Sonnen predicted that Rountree will walk through Pereira. Adesanya is unsure what insight Sonnen could have to make such a bold statement but won’t rule out the possibility of Rountree winning.

“Rountree will definitely be the underdog in this one, but I wouldn’t count him out,” Adesanya said. “Because Chael reckons he’s going to win, and Chael reckons he’s going to wash Pereira. And I’m like, ‘Wait, what does he know that we don’t know?’ Of course this is fighting, and I know he can because he can get in there, put him against the fence and just (beat him up).”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Israel Adesanya comfortable if UFC return doesn’t involve title: ‘I’d rather just fight’

“The Last Stylebender” sheds light on when he’d like to return to the UFC cage.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] is open, and perhaps even eager, to take on a non-title fight assignment for his bout.

While he’s remained relatively quiet talking about his immediate plans since his UFC 305 loss to Dricus Du Plessis in August, Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) revealed on “The Adam Carolla Show” on Tuesday his mental roadmap.

“(A rematch with Du Plessis) will come later on,” Adesanya said. “Right now, after I just fought him, I don’t think it’s going to be immediately. I’d rather just fight, not really for the belt, just fight for fighting’s sake. … Even though I don’t have the belt, they still have got my name in their mouth. I’m still Israel Adesanya. For me, I’ll let them call me out or whatever. At the moment, I want to fight one more time before the end of this year or early next year. I don’t know yet.

“I’m just training, building up where we left off. I’ll get the call at some point with a few options. I think Dana will hit me up at some point. (Sean Strickland) is going to fight Du Plessis first. I think he’s next. So even see how that plays out, see how the Rob-Khamzat fight plays out, and there are some other young guys on the come up. So yeah, we’ll see.”

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Adesanya, 35, has not competed in a non-title fight since he defeated Anderson Siva by unanimous decision at UFC 234 in February 2019. The current two-fight skid he’s on is the first stretch of consecutive losses in his professional MMA careeer.

Du Plessis and Strickland are expected to square off in late 2024 or early 2025, after Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev fight in a potential title eliminator bout Oct. 26 at UFC 308 on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

UFC star Israel Adesanya alleges racial abuse, says he’ll press charges after road rage incident

Ex-UFC champion Israel Adesanya claims he was racially abused in a recent road rage incident and plans to press charges.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] plans on taking legal action after a recent street altercation.

The former UFC champion was in the headlines earlier this week after a video surfaced online of him in a heated argument with a man. The situation appeared to be a road rage incident during the daytime, reportedly in central Auckland, New Zealand, on Wednesday.

Adesanya, born in Nigeria and living in New Zealand, opened up about the incident and claimed he was racially abused by the man, and also challenged to a fight.

“I am extremely disappointed after an incident on Wednesday when a random member of the public stopped his car, racially abused me, and challenged me to a fight,” Adesanya said in a statement provided to New Zealand Herald. “We have been in contact with police and will be pressing charges.

https://twitter.com/mma_frenzy/status/1831620958798692810

“On Wednesday morning, I was leaving a cafe on K Rd when a passing car slowed, and an occupant began yelling racial abuse and challenging me to fight. I smiled, waved it off, and continued to my car. The vehicle stopped, and the abuse continued. I again waved it off. The car then parked, and the passenger got out, approached me aggressively, continued his torrent of abuse, and demanded I fight him. I tried to de-escalate the situation repeatedly. As he got closer, I asked bystanders to call the police.

“He then entered my personal space, and I felt threatened. To protect myself, I became more forceful in my language and defensive. Though he paused, the abuse continued, so I left him with some choice words, cautiously moved to my car, and drove away.

“It’s ridiculous that I can’t buy a pie after training without some idiot screaming despicable things and asking for a fight while his mates film from the sidelines. Threatening violence is no joke. It’s very dangerous, and incidents like this must not be glorified online. I hope in the future people say something rather than get their phones out to film.”

Adesanya fought last month in the main event of UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. He lost by submission in an attempt to regain the UFC middleweight title from Dricus Du Plessis. The defeat marked Adesanya’s first fight since September 2023.

The 35-year-old is on a two-fight losing skid and 1-3 in his past four performances. Despite his recent run, Adesanya is considered by many as one of the best middleweights of all time.

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UFC’s Caio Borralho unsure if Israel Adesanya ‘still has it,’ guarantees finish

Caio Borralho accuses Israel Adesanya of quitting against Dricus Du Plessis before he even submitted.

[autotag]Caio Borralho[/autotag] didn’t just see someone who submitted in the UFC 305 main event. He saw a quitter.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] was gaining momentum in Round 4 of his title fight vs. middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 before Du Plessis was able to hurt him and submit him to retain his belt. Borralho (17-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) says Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) was starting to fade before the finish ultimately happened.

“There was a moment that he gave up of the fight, and actually it was like a minute before he actually got finished,” Borralho told Submission Radio. “I think he got tired, and I think he lost the focus, and he was starting to do things that he doesn’t usually do. He was starting to trade punches like crazy. He was putting a lot of power on the punches, trying to just knock out, just to get out of there. I thought that he was not comfortable there anymore, as the moment that he got tired in the fight, and DDP did an amazing job.

“So, I don’t know if Adesanya still has it – the same focus, the same thing because if you see all the fights of him when he gets tired, he even changed a little bit. His face, you know, his expression, just to tell himself that he’s still there, that he gets more focused, that even when he’s tired. But this time, he looked a little bit more scared in his expression, on his face, and he gave up on the fight like a minute before the fight ended. If you see, he gave us some signs that he didn’t want to be there anymore.”

Borralho inserted himself in the title picture when he defeated former title challenger Jared Cannonier at UFC on ESPN 62 this past Saturday. He thinks a fight vs. Adesanya makes perfect sense for him.

“I’m a guy that puts a lot of pressure when it comes about fighting,” Borralho said. “You guys see how I made Jared – I think Jared is the most powerful guy in the division. The heavy hitter of the division I think is Jared Cannonier in the top 10. None of these other guys hit as hard as him. So, if I made him move backwards, I would definitely make anyone move backwards, you know? And I’m going to pressure a lot Adesanya in this fight, make him move backwards.

“He likes to move backwards, actually, but I might be the only guy that uses feints, that we’re going to kick him the same way that he’s going to kick me, and I have the advantage on wrestling and grappling, too. So, I think he’ll be always in doubt if I’m going to put him down or if I’m going to just trade punches with him. I’m going to put pressure and maybe get a good knockout or a good takedown, and definitely going to finish him. With all the respect always, but that’s the way I see this fight going.”

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Israel Adesanya’s coach explains why Dricus Du Plessis loss ‘a lot easier’ to accept than Sean Strickland

As personal as things got with Dricus Du Plessis, the Sean Strickland loss still remains Israel Adesanya’s toughest pill to swallow.

The [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] loss still remains [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]’s toughest pill to swallow, according to his head coach.

Eugene Bareman praised middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) for submitting Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) in the fourth round of their title fight at UFC 305 in August.

The City Kickboxing coach was pleased with Adesanya’s form and chalked up the loss to fatigue.

“You can’t take anything away from Dricus. He’s got underrated defense, underrated offense,” Bareman said on the “Who The Fook Are These Guys?” podcast. “People are so used to watching some of the prettiest and technical strikers that they immediately discredit other people that don’t look like that blueprint. They fail to see the genius in what they’re doing. It was a very close fight, and at the end of the day Israel fatigued. I’m not sure if Israel’s ever been submitted. I can’t remember.

“That position, Israel’s done that a thousand times and got out of it a thousand times. What causes that is the opponent putting pressure on you, pushes you to a place where you’re fatigued. You know what to do, but your brain’s not working, and your body’s not responding because you’re so fatigued. That’s fighting. That’s what makes it such an interesting sport, is that you’re working at the highest level under all this duress, and sometimes it gets the better of you, and it got the better of Israel.”

Adesanya now has lost back-to-back fights to Strickland and Du Plessis. The Strickland loss stunned many, including Adesanya.

“The Strickland loss, he’ll never get over,” Bareman said. “You just fought badly, and it was unexplainable. It’s intangible. It’s not measurable what caused it. You just go down a rabbit hole of a million things. But the Dricus fight, he was doing well. It was a great contest, and he got outmaneuvered. He got outdone.

“You can figure out exactly what happened, follow the path, figure out went wrong, and it’s very traceable. Those losses are much more easier to figure out rather than the unexplained sort of losses that kind of leave you scratching your head a little bit. So, he’s fine in that respect. Any loss is hard, but trust me this one’s a lot easier to take than the Strickland one.”

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Israel Adesanya could ‘come back and have a resurgence’ after UFC 305, coach says

Israel Adesanya’s coach saw positives in his fight with Dricus Du Plessis and believes he could beat any middleweight, including DDP.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]’s coach saw positives out of his fight against UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag].

Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) was submitted by Du Plessis in their middleweight title fight, which headlined UFC 305 in Perth. Adesanya failed to regain his belt after an 11-month hiatus, but he had his moments before getting stopped in Round 4.

The momentum appeared to swing Adesanya’s way in Round 4, before Du Plessis tagged him with a big combination. Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) capitalized by jumping onto the submission, and City Kickboxing’s striking coach, Mike Angove, praised the champion for his will to win.

“Israel showed that he’s quite capable of getting Dricus out of there,” Angove told Submission Radio. “But Dricus also showed what he showed all along, which is that he’s an absolute dog. He’s always looking for an opportunity to win. He will never give up. He was hurt on multiple occasions in that fight, and you know, he took that victory, and he’s done that again and again and again.

“We’ve seen him in other fights where he’s been on the backfoot, and he’s found a way to win, and he’s shown that indomitable will to win. So, we’ve got to credit him for that. That said, I feel like it was a fight we probably let slip away a little bit. Just a couple of mistakes, but I think those mistakes come from a little bit of fatigue, potentially, and that can be attributable to time out of the game. Just making a few readjustments to what we do with our (strength) and (conditioning).”

Angove wasn’t too discouraged from Adesanya’s performance. He thinks “The Last Stylebender” still has what it takes to compete at the top, despite losing three of his past four fights.

“We know that Dricus has a great back take. He’s got a number of submissions,” Angove said. “He’s very quick to take that back, and that’s something you need to be aware of the whole time, and we made that mistake, and we paid for it. Look, how does he look like he did against Strickland, which to be fair there’s a few issues that led to that.

“We would have been sitting in a different position, but Israel looks like he has the ability to come back and have a resurgence, if you like, in his career. He showed that he’s more than capable of of taking out anyone in that division, including Dricus. And you know, we’ll see him back in the gym very shortly, as soon as he’s back from Africa and looking to plan our next steps.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.

UFC 305 medical suspensions: Li Jingliang shut down for 2 months after brutal KO

After a brutal KO at the hands of Carlos Prates, Li Jingliang is out two months. But one UFC 305 suspension is potentially longer.

Everyone who fought this past Saturday at UFC 305 has been given medical suspensions after their bouts, though several were just for mandatory rest periods.

Of note, Li Jingliang, who suffered one of the most brutal knockouts in recent memory at the hand of Carlos Prates, will be out for 60 days. Plus, Casey O’Neill, who took a decision from Luana Santos on the prelims, has a 6-month suspension unless she gets clearance from a doctor to return sooner.

The event, which took place at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, was headlined by a middleweight title bout between champion Dricus Du Plessis and former champ Israel Adesanya.

Thursday, MMA Junkie acquired a full list of medical suspensions from the commission at the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries of Western Australia, which oversaw the event. Check out that full list below. It’s important to note fighters can return prior to the conclusion of the full term if they are cleared by a doctor (unless noted otherwise).

Jesus Aguilar def. Stewart Nicoll

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 18: Stewart Nicoll of Australia is checked by medical staff after being defeated by Jesus Aguilar of Mexico during the Flyweight Bout against during UFC 305 at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

[autotag]Jesus Aguilar[/autotag]: 15 days mandatory rest
[autotag]Stewart Nicoll[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Song Kenan def. Ricky Glenn

[autotag]Song Kenan[/autotag]: 21-day suspension
[autotag]Ricky Glenn[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Tom Nolan def. Alex Reyes

[autotag]Tom Nolan[/autotag]: 30-day suspension
[autotag]Alex Reyes[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Jack Jenkins def. Herbert Burns

[autotag]Jack Jenkins[/autotag]: 15 days mandatory rest
[autotag]Herbert Burns[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Casey O’Neill def. Luana Santos

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 18: Casey O’Neill of Australia celebrates after her Women’s Flyweight fight against Luana Santos of Brazil during UFC 305 at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

[autotag]Casey O’Neill[/autotag]: 180-day suspension unless cleared by doctor
[autotag]Luana Santos[/autotag]: 15 days mandatory rest

Ricardo Ramos def. Josh Culibao

[autotag]Ricardo Ramos[/autotag]: 30-day suspension
[autotag]Josh Culibao[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Valter Walker def. Junior Tafa

[autotag]Valter Walker[/autotag]: 15 days mandatory rest
[autotag]Junior Tafa[/autotag]: 15-day suspension

Carlos Prates def. Li Jingliang

China’s Li Jingliang (in red) is knocked out by Brazil’s Carlos Prates in their men’s welterweight division event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 305 at the Perth Arena in Perth on August 18, 2024. (Photo by COLIN MURTY / AFP) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE — (Photo by COLIN MURTY/AFP via Getty Images)

[autotag]Carlos Prates[/autotag]: 15-day suspension
[autotag]Li Jingliang[/autotag]: 60-day suspension

Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Tai Tuivasa

[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag]: 15 days mandatory rest
[autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Dan Hooker def. Mateusz Gamrot

[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]: 45-day suspension
[autotag]Mateusz Gamrot[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Kai Kara-France def. Steve Erceg

[autotag]Kai Kara-France[/autotag]: 15 days mandatory rest
[autotag]Steve Erceg[/autotag]: 45-day suspension

Dricus Du Plessis def. Israel Adesanya

[autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag]: 15 days mandatory rest
[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Ex-UFC champ Jan Blachowicz advises Israel Adesanya against trying light heavyweight again

Jan Blachowicz advises Israel Adesanya against a move back up to light heavyweight.

[autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] advises [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] against a move back up to light heavyweight.

Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) finds himself in a quandary after losing to middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis by submission in their title fight Saturday at UFC 305 in Perth.

Blachowicz was surprised by Du Plessis’ performance, dubbing his style as awkward.

“It was a very good fight,” Blachowicz told Middle Easy. “I didn’t expect that. I thought Izzy was going to win, but Dricus is tough. He has a very weird style. I don’t know how to say it, very tough, weird style of MMA, but it’s working. He knows what to do, how to fight, and he just uses his style very good. Congratulations to him.”

Adesanya has now lost three of his past four and is unsure what’s next. With not too many lucrative names left for him at middleweight, Blachowicz was asked what he thought of Adesanya moving up to light heavyweight, but he wasn’t fond of the idea.

That’s because Blachowicz welcomed Adesanya to 205 pounds when he was champion, and was able to shut down his dual-champion pursuit when he defeated him by unanimous decision at UFC 259.

“I think he should stay at 185 and do something, but we’ll see what’s going to be his decision,” Blachowicz said. “I’m not in his head. I don’t know what he’s going to do right now. We we’ll see. Maybe he’ll move to 205, but I don’t think so. It’s going to be much harder for him than at 185.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.

Robert Whittaker: Israel Adesanya looked outstanding at UFC 305, Dricus Du Plessis is just a warrior

Robert Whittaker thinks Israel Adesanya looked in top form at UFC 305, but Dricus Du Plessis was too powerful.

[autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] looked in top form at UFC 305, but [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] was too powerful.

Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) retained his middleweight title when he submitted Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) in Round 4 of their UFC 305 headliner. Whittaker’s most recent loss came to Du Plessis by TKO, and he’s still baffled by how well the South African is able to perform.

“There’s a method to his madness – like, I’m making light of it and making it funny, but the dude is a weapon,” Whittaker said on his MMArcade Podcast. “He’s a true warrior. I can say that firsthand because he beat me right with the same cumbersome, throwing punches. It’s funny: I saw the same moment Adesanya had in his fight that I had in my fight, and it was somewhere in the first round where you think you see the punches, you move out of the way of the punches, and you realize, like, ‘He’s slow.’

“I can see them, like, ‘I’ve got this.’ It’s almost like you’re thinking, ‘This is too easy. I can see everything.’ And then, all of a sudden, he hits you. Then he starts climbing on you when he starts closing that gap a little bit more, like he starts – what, risking it a little bit more – like lunging into his shots, and he closes that inch that you thought you were safe by a little bit. Then there’s the factor of his power.”

After a back-and-forth three rounds, Du Plessis was able to lunge forward and stun Adesanya with a few shots, before jumping on him for the rear-naked choke submission.

Whittaker broke down the fight-ending sequence.

“In that last exchange before the submission, Adesanya took some heavy shots,” Whittaker said. “Adesanya’s got a great chin. He does – b*stard. He took those shots. … Dricus saw that, too – pushed it, got the takedown, and then jumped on the back straight away. Like, good instincts. He said he trained for that transition.

“It looks good, but that’s just a testament to his power because his power is what got him the chance, the opportunity. There’s so much to dissect and so many what ifs, you’d have to ask him. But man, to sum it all up, I think Adesanya looked outstanding. Dricus is just a warrior, and I understand what you need to do to beat him. You need to be ready to leave it all there.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.

Dana White: I called Israel Adesanya to apologize for UFC ‘Countdown’ editing out Francis Ngannou mentions

Dana White says he had nothing to do with Francis Ngannou being edited out of UFC Countdown.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] says he had nothing to do with [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]’s name and reference being edited out of a UFC 305 “Countdown” episode.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] took issue with Ngannou’s name being removed from an episode this past week in which a past answer about the “three kings” from Africa at a UFC 305 pre-sale news conference had Ngannou’s name wiped out. Cameroon-born Ngannou captured the UFC heavyweight title in 2021 and defended it against Ciryl Gane in 2022 before he parted ways with the promotion in a contract dispute.

White wasn’t happy with Ngannou’s departure and accused him of ducking a title fight with Jon Jones. White’s feelings toward Ngannou made many speculate that he requested the removal of Ngannou’s name during any UFC-related promotion, but the UFC CEO assures it wasn’t his idea.

“I don’t know about this,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “If that’s true, and that was done, and it was something that we produced, then somebody in the company made that decision. Listen, you know me. If I said we did it, I’d say ‘Yeah, f*ck him,’ and ‘This is why we did it.’ I know nothing about it. Nobody ever asked me about it, and this is the first we’re hearing about it.”

Adesanya said you can never erase Ngannou’s history from the UFC. White insists he has no animosity towards Ngannou, and takes accountability for his name being removed from UFC Countdown.

“My production team are a bunch of rock stars and they are truly f*cking awesome,” White told Kevin Iole after the DWCS 68 post-fight news conference. “I make it so hard on them sometimes with some of the crazy sh*t I say, and it’s tough. When you asked me about that (post-fight at DWCS 68), I didn’t know anything about it. But someone was editing that and made a conscious decision, thinking that was the right thing to do – that that’s what we would have wanted, what I would have wanted.

“I’m in charge of everything production-related, so at the end of the day, the fact that it happened falls on me 100 percent. It’s my responsibility and I accept it. Blame me for that. I put them in such a tough spot sometimes saying all this crazy sh*t, it’s hard for them. Whoever was editing it, they thought that was the right decision and did what they thought I wanted. That’s not what I wanted, and had I known that, I would have not authorized that. But that’s on me – totally on me. I already called Israel Adesanya and apologized for it.”

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