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“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives.
“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives.
Tyron Woodley claims that Israel Adesanya has taken his callout way too personally as the beef continues to brew.
[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] didn’t take well to some of [autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag]’s recent comments and the two have been trading barbs ever since.
Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) discussed his plans of clearing out the welterweight division, and eventually moving up to face UFC middleweight champion Adesanya.
But during that discussion, he made sure to throw some jabs at the champion, claiming he’s scared of guys with power, referring to his fight with Yoel Romero.
Adesanya (19-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) fired back, taking aim at Woodley’s performance against Kamaru Usman, in which he lost the welterweight title.
Speaking during “The Hollywood Beatdown” segment on TMZ, Woodley claimed that Adesanya has taken his callout way too personally as the beef continues to brew.
“If you want to be one of the best fighters on earth, you have to fight the best – and many fighters have bumped up weight classes, dropped down weight classes and shuffled around to prove that they’re the baddest men alive,” Woodley said. “They’ve done it in boxing, they’ve done it in mixed martial arts. You see the theme that fighters are trying to attack – that double belt in the UFC. So of course.
“I think he took it personal. He’s really sensitive, and when somebody starts to get in their feelings – I had the same situation with Robbie Lawler. He got in his feelings. That means there’s a little (expletive) in the blood, and now I want to test it out.”
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UFC president Dana White names the three big UFC matchups that failed to live up to their pre-fight hype.
The UFC prides itself on delivering exciting fights for the fans, week-in, week-out. But sometimes fights that look like surefire hits on paper don’t always live up to the hype on fight night.
During an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit on Wednesday, White was asked to name three fights that he was excited about that didn’t pan out as well as he had expected.
“What fight do you believe was on your highest expectations but ultimately the biggest let down,” White was asked.
“Yoel vs. Israel, Lewis vs. Francis and Woodley vs. Wonderboy,” White responded.
When Paulo Costa underwent surgery, UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] wanted to stay active and decided to take a risk by facing the explosive [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] at UFC 248. He ended up outpointing Romero for the decision win, but the fight ended in boos, not cheers, after a somewhat lackluster matchup.
A UFC 226 [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] pitted two of the UFC hardest-hitting heavyweights head to head, with many fans expecting a big knockout. Instead, both men were tentative to engage, with Lewis scoring a decision win after a fight where minimal strikes were thrown.
White didn’t mention which fight between former UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag] and [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] he was referring to, but it was likely the rematch between the pair at UFC 209, where Woodley won a majority decision after a cagey, tactical contest.
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MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun talks to Israel Adesanya.
MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun talks to Israel Adesanya.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is ready to prove the naysayers wrong when he faces Paulo Costa.
[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] is ready to prove the naysayers wrong.
After back-to-back wins over Kelvin Gastelum and Robert Whittaker, the latter of which crowned him UFC middleweight champion, Adesanya faced Yoel Romero next and won a fight many deemed lackluster.
The usually patient Romero came out with a strange strategy early that had him standing completely still at a certain point. Throughout the fight, Adesanya was able to chop away at his legs and outpointed him for a unanimous decision win.
It’s a performance he received a lot of criticism for, but Adesanya (19-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is looking to erase people’s short memories with a good showing against his next challenger, [autotag]Paulo Costa[/autotag].
“I look forward to this game because a lot of people after that fight – it’s perfect: I let them sleep on me,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie. “In the movie of my life, even in my documentary – like every movie, things are going great and then you need, ‘Oh, something bad’s happened,’ and then you need the finish of the movie where it rises up again.
“The last fight, because of the criticism unjustly that I got, the dip, it’s like the negative part of the movie. And then this bit is going to be the bit where I just blow everything out of the water and I just rise to the occasion and everyone is like, ‘I can’t believe he did that.’ You guys are going to be really surprised. It’s going to be etches of UFC 126, (Vitor) Belfort vs. (Anderson) Silva, that type of (expletive). You’re going to be really surprised at how this fight plays out because everyone is already counting me out.”
Adesanya projects that he will likely face Costa sometime in the summer, preferably on “Fight Island.”
“I like ‘Fight Island,'” Adesanya said. “The movie, like the cinema I have in my head – because I’m the protagonist, right, and Costa would be the antagonist in the end of this movie – and to finish it off on ‘Fight Island,’ that just seems like some ‘Mortal Kombat’ type of (expletive). It’s just like, you couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
Also undefeated, Costa has barreled his way through competition, with his heavy pressure and aggressive style.
But Adesanya isn’t fazed by Costa’s power.
“I brought back my counter striking game for the Robert Whittaker fight, but also before that, you guys have seen like in the Kelvin Gastelum fight, I showed my toughness. I showed I can be aggressive. I showed I can walk people down,” Adesanya said. “You will be surprised how I’m going to walk this guy down at a certain point in this fight, how he’ll be the one taking a backward step.
“It’s finishing – I’m knocking him out. That’s how I feel. It’s kill or be killed. Don’t get me wrong – like, I don’t think he’s going to catch me, and if he does, he’ll be quite surprised at my durability because a lot of people forget. They say, ‘Oh, he was scared of Romero’s power.’ It’s like, do you know how many (expletives) I’ve fought in this game – not just in MMA, but in kickboxing? Everyone has power, but there’s levels to this power (expletive).”
Adesanya has gone five rounds three times in his career, while Costa made it to the third round for the first time in his most recent outing vs. Romero, giving Adesanya the edge in the in-cage experience.
And Adesanya doesn’t think he’ll be able to keep up with him.
“I look forward to the challenge, and I’ve seen this style so many times,” Adesanya said. “He’s orthodox. He’s very good. He’s very basic, but so am I. But at the same time, I can be different. I’m the one who will dictate this fight – the pace of this fight will be dictated by me because you know who has the pace in this fight and we know it’s not him because he doesn’t have the pace or the gas tank to (expletive) with me.”
Israel Adesanya spoke with MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun.
Israel Adesanya spoke with MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun.
“Gorgeous” George and “Goze” react to the latest MMA news and notes in this new episode.
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Thurday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here!
On Episode No. 3,046 of the podcast, the guys cover a lot of ground on the latest MMA news and notes.
THE RUNDOWN
Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio, or check it out above. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.
Israel Adesanya has scoffed at Tyron Woodley’s desire to move up and face him for the UFC middleweight title.
[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] has scoffed at [autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag]’s desire to move up a weight class and fight him.
On a recent Instagram live session, former UFC welterweight champion Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) claimed that, after a few more fights at 170 pounds, he’d like to move up to middleweight and go straight for Adesanya (19-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC).
Woodley also mentioned that he doesn’t think Adesanya is as good as everyone says and suggested he spotted some potential flaws in his game during fights against Yoel Romero and Kelvin Gastelum, an opponent Woodley said he “walked through.”
Adesanya noted Woodley’s comments, then took to Twitter in response, referring to “The Chosen One’s” loss to fellow Nigerian-born champion Kamaru Usman, who dethroned Woodley in a one-sided decision.
Lol see me see trouble…whala just dey find me anyhow.@TWooodley can’t even deal with one Nigerian Nightmare @USMAN84kg when he was at 30%.
Oboy sit down before I lash your nyash well well 😂— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) April 21, 2020
Lol see me see trouble…whala just dey find me anyhow. @TWooodley can’t even deal with one Nigerian Nightmare @USMAN84kg when he was at 30%. Oboy sit down before I lash your nyash well well
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Adesanya is coming off a unanimous decision win over Yoel Romero at UFC 248 and is set to take on Paulo Costa in his next title defense, with the Brazilian now fully recovered from bicep surgery.
Woodley, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since losing his title to Usman in March 2019. His scheduled return, against English contender Leon Edwards at UFC on ESPN+ 29 in London, was scrapped when the COVID-19 pandemic rendered the event untenable.
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“I can’t see why Israel wouldn’t have at least an equal footing or potentially an advantage.”
[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] likes [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]’s chances against [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag].
UFC champions Adesanya and Jones continue to build up a potential fight through their continuous back-and-forth on social media.
Though the two compete in different weight classes, Adesanya has expressed interest in moving all the way up to heavyweight for a potential fight with Jones, but not until he’s done clearing out the 185-pound division.
And former UFC middleweight champion Bisping thinks Adesanya would match up well against Jones, considering how Jones’ past few outings have gone.
“On the feet, they’d match up pretty well,” Bisping told Submission Radio. “I can’t see why Israel wouldn’t have at least an equal footing or potentially an advantage. We saw in (Jones’) last few fights he’s not invincible, he’s not superhuman – he is beatable. Everybody’s beatable, trust me. And Jon, the longer he does it, the longer he goes, it’s kind of a game of odds. At some point, someone’s going to beat him, and it seems to be happening more and more. I mean, the fight against Dominick Reyes – and I’m not trying to dump on Jon Jones – but I feel that Reyes won that fight.
“The one before, Thiago Santos, that was a close fight, and Thiago Santos had a bloody blown ACL from Round 1. The fight before that, Anthony Smith. So, you know, Jon isn’t unbeatable, and Adesanya is also undefeated. They’re both pretty undefeated in my eyes. It’s a great fight. I’d love to see it one day, but I’m not sure I would ever see Israel at heavyweight. That’s why I kind of laughed there, ’cause he’s certainly very tall. But he’s a light middleweight at the end of the day. So at heavyweight, he’s gonna have a big disadvantage there.”
Famous for his trash talk, Bisping can certainly appreciate how Adesanya continues to spark up the beef with Jones.
However, realistically speaking, Bisping doesn’t think the fight actually happens.
“I like what he’s doing with Jon Jones – I like what he’s doing,” Bisping said. “I don’t know if that fight will ever happen. It probably won’t. Not anytime soon. I think Jon’s talking about going up to heavyweight, so obviously that would put a barrier between them. But I like it. I certainly liked seeing Israel talk (expletive) about Jon Jones. It is funny. I just sit there in the morning eating my Corn Flakes and get a little chuckle out of it. So, yeah – he’s great, he’s great. I’m a big fan.
“He’s great – undefeated, which is very marketable. He looks good, he talks good, he fights good. The guy’s a superstar. He’s got all the qualities that the UFC are looking for in a superstar, and he fights great.”
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Israel Adesanya is giving back to his hometown and other communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] may not be fighting opponents inside the octagon, but he’s still heading into battle as he helps his local community in its fight against COVID-19.
According to the New Zeland Herald, UFC middleweight champion Adesanya is contributing by providing 10,000 three-ply face masks and 1,000 eye protection face shields for the frontline health staff of his hometown of Whanganui, where his family still resides.
Adesanya is also supplying personal protective equipment (PPE) in Auckland, where he currently lives and trains, as well as his birthplace of Lagos, Nigeria.
Undefeated in his pro career, Adesanya burst onto the scene in 2018, capturing the UFC middleweight title with a second-round knockout over Robert Whittaker this past October. Since then, he successfully defended his title against Yoel Romero at UFC 248 in March.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
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