Israel
Adesanya is well aware of the criticism aimed in his direction
following his latest title defense. He just doesn’t care all that
much.
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“The Last Stylebender” was technical and tactical — but not overly
exciting — in a relatively easy unanimous decision triumph over
Jared
Cannonier in the UFC 276
headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Adesanya did not deliver the violence he promised in the lead-up to
the bout, and his latest effort led to some fans filing out of the
venue in the middle of his fight. Others who stuck around booed the
contest, which was controlled by Adesanya with rangy straight
punches and kicks to various levels.
The City Kickboxing standout has seen this story before with other
high-level champions in MMA and boxing, and he now finds common
ground with some of those all-time greats. It can be difficult to
keep the fans happy and keep winning at the same time.
“F—k them. Nah, they’ve been here since 3 p.m. They’re all drunk.
They don’t know what real fighting is,” Adesanya said of the fans
unrest at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I’ve said this:
The greats, they all get to this point. I’ve seen it when I was
just a fan. I’m still a fan. Anderson
Silva, [Georges St.
Pierre], I remember fights where I’d be like, ‘That was a
f—-ing fantastic fight,’ and the same thing. People would just boo
them. GSP, one of the f—-ing GOATs, and people would just boo him.
I’m like, ‘What the f—k are you guys watching? You dumb f—s.’
“[Muhammad] Ali, Floyd
Mayweather, it’s the same thing. You’re so great, people just
want to see you fall. They just want to see you fall no matter
what. If it’s not a show-out, spectacular performance, it’s like,
‘Ah, he’s not even that good.’ Jared knows I’m a good fighter. He
knows I’m a great fighter, and I gave him the same credit, as
well.”
That said, Adesanya admitted that he wasn’t in peak form on
Saturday night, which according to him, makes a clear-cut victory
against a top middleweight contender all the more impressive.
“I’ve said this before in the past: On my worst day, I can kill the
best man,” Adesanya said. “I call that suicide, on my worst day. I
had an off night tonight. [Trainer Eugene
Bareman]] told me, ‘The people who really know you — teammates,
family — they know you had an off night.’ And still, I still f—-d
him up.”
While Cannonier often appeared mesmerized by his opponent’s
combination of rangy attacks, counters and feints, Adesanya
credited him for making the fight more difficult than expected.
“I couldn’t find my power shots, my kicks,” Adesanya said. “The
initiators – the jabs and leg kicks – were working, but I was
trying to find the power shots. He was adjusting well. It wasn’t
just me vs. him. … His adjustments to what I was doing, I’d go
ahead, I got to his body, I got to his legs. I got to his legs and
he’d adjust and get away from my power. I was able to get away from
his, as well.”
In the aftermath of his latest victory, Adesanya didn’t shy away
from talk of showdown with former kickboxing rival Alex
Pereira, who authored an impressive first-round knockout of
Sean
Strickland on Saturday night.
“That’s the next fight,” Adesanya said. “I saw his fight. It was a
good fight, but Sean
Strickland should have focused on his job, like I told him to.
How soon? We’ll find out.
“I’m facing a guy who’s beat me in kickboxing, and now, he’s still
chasing me, because he knows I‘m the king, and he wants to try and
get that away from me. You guys see what happens when my back’s
against the wall.”