ALL ADES UP
Champ still doing it in Style
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ISRAEL ADESANYA will continue to do things in his own unique ‘style’ – whether that is dominating inside the octagon or tackling online hate.
‘The Last Stylebender’ retained his middleweight title against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 in Glendale, Arizona, with a comprehensive 50-45 points victory across all three judges’ scorecards.
The two have had bad blood since their first fight in 2018, which the Nigerian-born Kiwi won via split decision.
The animosity threatened to boil over during the build-up, while inside the octagon the Italian’s attempts to drag Adesanya to the mat never paid off, with the elusive and laidback champ in total control.
Adesanya, whose only defeat in 22 fights was at light-heavyweight against champion Jan Blachowicz, said: “I actually was in cruise control. There was a bantamweight division when he challenges Marlon Vera. FINAL SAY “My job is to finish the fight. A jiu-jitsu guy, he is a tap, nap or snap – and tonight it was snap.” Scottish light-heavyweight Paul Craig after he dislocated Jamahal Hill’s arm at UFC 263. point where my coach had to yell at me, ‘Don’t get bored!’ and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, true, stay focused.’ I don’t even know what round it was, but I had to stay focused. I had fun out there.
“I felt no threat. Even when he had my back, I was not threatened at all.
“There was a point when I spun inside his guard and I held him in a choke, that sexy choke, I looked into his eyes and I said to him, ‘You’re scared, aren’t you?,’ because I saw that look in his eyes. I swear to God, I’ll never forget that look. I looked in his eyes, I saw his soul leave his body. That was very satisfying.”
Despite another crowd-pleasing display, Adesanya, who was born in Lagos before moving to New Zealand when he was 10, is not expecting to receive much love online, not that he looks to social media for validation.
He added: “F*** what anyone thinks. You are not as good as they say you are and you are not as bad as they say you are.
“All that matters is how you see yourself. I don’t listen to stuff on the internet. Even the good stuff. I appreciate it but it is all b ******* at the end of the day.
“All the monkey and banana emojis and bad English on my (Twitter) page... and I am sure it will happen again when I next post, because it was the same thing that happened the last time I whopped Marvin’s ass. I don’t listen to it. I just focus on myself, my team and my loved ones.”
In a world dominated by fighters who feel the need to play the tough guy, Adesanya, who wants a rematch with Aussie Robert Whittaker next, is unashamedly himself.
UFC 263 proved a perfect example as Adesanya made his ring walk dressed as a niche video game character and left victorious to the sounds of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s old wrestling theme.
Johnson (above) posted: “Proud of you Uso (brother) and like we talked about, we never just want to play the game, we want to change the way the game is played. Keep raising the bar and changing the game.”