Israel
Adesanya has been mostly silent since his upset loss to
Sean
Strickland in the UFC 293
headliner on Sept. 9.
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That changed on Wednesday, when “The Last Stylebender” broke his
silence in an interview on his YouTube channel. Though he appeared
to be in good spirits, it was a subdued version of the former
middleweight champion that appeared on camera.
“How am I feeling?” Adesanya said. “Quietly confident.”
Adesanya was a heavy favorite heading into the matchup with
Strickland, who wasn’t the UFC’s first choice of title challenger.
However, once the bell rang, it was Strickland who set the tone,
dropping his opponent in the opening stanza and then controlling
the action with straight punches and consistent forward
pressure.
“That just felt like a bad dream,” Adesanya said, while crediting
Strickland for his approach.
“He just never let me get into my rhythm at all. I just wasn’t able
to get my rhythm because of his pressure. He was right there
constantly …It was a good game plan from their end, but for me, I
wasn’t able to adjust on the fly. It was his night. He got it done.
I made another dream come true.”
As the bout progressed, Adesanya sensed he was losing the fight,
but he was unable to shift the momentum in his favor.
“I wasn’t even scoring the fight, but I knew (I was) losing the
fight,” Adesanya said. “I just felt like my arms were like noodles.
I had no snap. It just felt weird.”
Again, Adesanya attributed a lot of his struggles to his
opponent.
“His guard was real unique and unorthodox. I wasn’t able to find my
jab,” he said. “It was good defense and good offense. A
well-rounded game.”
With that being said, Adesanya is “quietly confident,” as he says,
because he believes he can improve upon that performance in a
rematch.
“We know exactly what to do leading up to the next one,” he
said.
Adesanya is also aware of the naysayers, some of whom are past
opponents who came out on the losing end against the Nigerian-born
Kiwi.
“It’s funny how they say, ‘If I faced that version of Israel…’ You
understand who I am,” Adesanya said. “I just find that funny.”
While UFC CEO Dana White indicated that Adesanya should get an
immediate rematch against Strickland following UFC 293, it’s
unclear when that might happen. After fighting three times in 11
months, the City Kickboxing standout didn’t give an exact timetable
for his return. He also made it clear that championship hardware
isn’t necessarily a priority.
“We’ll see,” he said. “The belt’s never mattered to me. It does
obviously, but how many times have I said that it’s just a fancy
tiara that brings more money? The belt’s just a nice accessory.
I’ve got many belts. I’m just trying to do it again. Just for fun.”