Adesanya’s star is still shining
Israel Adesanya’s starpower won’t be dimmed by his lacklustre UFC title defence against Yoel Romero.
The New Zealand middleweight saw off Romero with a unanimous points decision in a disappointing fight where the Cuban didn’t want to engage and Adesanya was content to stay patient and work his way to victory from the outside, mostly via his accurate kicking game.
That led to the fight being labelled the most boring title defence in UFC history by Adesayna himself and UFC boss Dana White admitted that it ‘‘sucked’’ as a promotion.
But former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who helped call the fight cageside in Las Vegas, felt Adesanya had done what he had to do and believes the manner of victory won’t affect him moving forward.
‘‘I think that he can be as big a star as you have in the UFC,’’ Cormier told MMA Fighting as the bout continues to get plenty of analysis.
‘‘Some guys just have it . . . it just radiates off of him. You just see it. From the moment he walks to the octagon, he officially marked his territory.
‘‘You saw a young kid who had never done anything, become a champion in like a year. That doesn’t happen very often in the UFC and I think this was just one of those nights.’’
Cormier noted that UFC legend Anderson Silva had also produced a similarly dull defence at the height of his powers and escaped with his reputation intact.
‘‘It did not really affect his legacy and I think that’s going to be the case with Izzy. He’s just going to move forward and his next fight is guaranteed to deliver because the guy he’s fighting, Paulo Costa, has never been in a fight like you saw Izzy have last week.’’
Cormier labelled Adesanya’s win over Romero ‘‘weird’’ but didn’t blame the champion for being coy.
‘‘When you fight Yoel Romero, a guy that has knocked out so many people, a guy that has really fought in that same exact way but finds ways to end fights with one action, you cannot think that Izzy would just go in there and be reckless,’’ Cormier said.
‘‘I’ve never seen anyone do it. He did what he had to do. This guy’s the champion. He’s a guy that if you’re willing to engage, he’ll give you your type of fight. But Yoel Romero’s not a guy that you want to be out there being reckless with. He’s just too dangerous. The risk is not worth the danger.’’