UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, following his headline performance at UFC 276, described it as an “off night”. More recently, however, speaking on his YouTube channel, Adesanya backtracked and claimed that he was “happy” with the performance, which has been widely panned by fans and critics.
“I rewatched it two days after the fight and I watched it once, that’s all I needed for now. I was just happy with the performance. I wasn’t ecstatic about the performance, but I was happy with it. It wasn’t what people were trying to make it out to be.
I didn’t really take my foot off the gas too much. The only time I wasn’t able to was when he held me against the fence. I broke away when I needed to and kept on fighting, as soon as I broke away. I’d normally just keep on him straight away because I know he’s tired from holding me, because I could feel his squeeze just holding me… When he weakened, I got away and put pressure on him straight away, trying to create openings. I just wasn’t able to create the ones that I needed at the time. But yeah, these things happen.”
Adesanya also described his position as comparable to those of retired champions and MMA greats Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva. He’s happy to be resting in such esteemed company, for now.
“It’s where I want to be. Look at how we speak of them now. But right now I’m in it. People can’t see the forest for the trees. This is a thing that happens a lot. People can’t see the forest for the trees so they throw their toys, shake their rattles or whatnot, but you go down the line, when all is said and done, when my career is finished, we’ll see who was the guy. Eugene [Bareman] said it the best, these spectacular knockouts will come. These marvelous finishes will come, but right now it’s about playing the game, and I played the game very well. I hit the guy and didn’t get hit much. I feel we’re doing just what we need to do.”
Only time will tell whether Israel Adesanya reaches the same dominant career peaks as those two legendary fighters. His next opponent is likely to be Alex Pereira, a vicious kickboxer who already has two wins over the champ in their previous promotion.
What did you think of Israel Adesanya’s UFC 276 performance? Let us know in the comments.
