UFC middleweight champion Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya is even more fired up than usual ahead of tonight’s clash with Jared Cannonier at UFC 276. At the UFC 276 media day the champ was thrilled to be taking on “fresh blood” in the form of Cannonier, declaring himself “like a vampire”.
“You know me, I call out all the greats, and I saw that in him early on before you guys did, and I tried to boost him up. He fell short once and then came back and proved his worth as the next contender.”
Adesanya “Like A Vampire”: Cannonier Is “Fresh Blood”
I don’t feel [that he poses a threat]. I feel like he poses a danger the same way all my past opponents posed threats.
But they keep talking about power, ‘Power, power, power.’ You ever heard that before when someone fights me? Power this, power that. It’s the same old song. F****** get it off repeat, get me a new song. I’m just glad I have new blood to fight in this fight. So yeah, it’s time to eat.
It’s new blood, and I feel like a vampire right now. I’m dark. My people around me know, they know how it is when it comes to this part of the camp, fight week and the timeline that we’re in right now.
So yeah, new blood. I like having new blood. The last two, the Vettori one I got bored, the Robert one I was waiting a little bit and I didn’t like that from my performance. So I like having new blood and I like having to rise to the occasion. That’s the difference between me and him, I’m used to the spotlight. I’m used to all this s***. He’s not. He’s new to it. I feel like he’s man enough and mature enough to handle it, but not like me.”
Adesanya promised a “memorable” performance tonight: “I feel like this is one of those ones that’s going to be memorable, because I like to make things memorable.
You know how I do. I put this on myself so that way I know — pressure makes diamonds, and when you put that pressure on me, when I put that pressure on myself, I will shine like a diamond.”
Do you think we’ll see a new level from Israel Adesanya tonight? Is Jared Cannonier the man to take the middleweight belt? Let us know in the comments.
