Adesanya kicks back at critics
After a surprisingly quiet display in his last fight, Israel Adesanya is back doing what he does best – putting on a show.
The Nigerian-Kiwi sensation defended his middleweight crown in emphatic fashion at UFC 253 yesterday with a second-round TKO of bitter Brazilian rival Paulo Costa in Abu Dhabi.
After repeatedly attacking Costa’s lead leg for the majority of the fight, Adesanya dropped him with a left hook to the temple before raining down hammer fists to finish the bout 3:59 into the second round.
‘The Last Stylebender’ was criticised for a lack of action in his previous victory over Yoel Romero in March. But in just the second men’s title fight in UFC history to feature two undefeated fighters, he delivered the perfect response, confirming his status as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the promotion.
‘‘Like Roy Jones [Jr] said, ya’ll must’ve forgot, ya’ll must’ve forgot,’’ Adesanya said after improving his perfect record to 20-0.
‘‘Because of what happened last time you thought, ‘he’s so boring, blah, blah, blah, blah’. And I see you media people as well with your little clickbait headlines. But trust
Israel Adesanya answers his critics
me, I had to make ya’ll remember and I had to remind the world why. We the best!’’
Despite the coronavirus pandemic forcing the fight behind closed doors at the UFC’s ‘Flight Island’, there was no shortage hype for this bout.
Both Adesanya and Costa (13-1) made no secret of their dislike for each other, but in the end it was all one-way traffic.
From the opening bell Adesanya set about attacking Costa’s lead leg, landing a total of 26 kicks to leave ‘The Eraser’s’ left calf a bloody mess by the end of the fight. As Costa began to slow down in the second, that opened up space
‘‘Trust me, I had to make ya’ll remember.’’
for Adesanya to attack upstairs.
The finish was similar to the way he stopped Robert Whittaker to unify the title last year, sliding away from a Costa left hand and landing a one of his own to set up the emphatic win.
Whittaker has the chance to force a rematch when he meets Jared Cannonier at UFC 254 next month. However, Adesanya believes the third-ranked Cannonier is more likely to emerge as his next opponent.
‘‘I told you guys, Anderson Silva left a great legacy. I want to do service to the middleweight division and that’s a hard act to follow. But we’re doing the work, right ‘Eug’?’’
Adesanya said standing next to coach Eugene Bareman.
Of the other Kiwis, Lightweight contender Brad Riddell continued his hot streak with another actionpacked victory, but the trip to Fight Island did not go to plan for his City Kickboxing team-mates Kai KaraFrance and Shane Young.
Riddell (9-1) stormed home on the back of his stellar striking and grappling defence to claim a unanimous decision victory over Brazilian Alex da Silva (21-3).
Flyweight Kara-France went down via a second-round submission (guillotine) to American Brandon Royval and Young was knocked out in the first round by Ludovit Klein.
Riddell clearly lost the first round to da Silva but won the second and went close to a finish in the third.
The win was the Christchurchborn fighter’s sixth on the bounce, including three from three in the UFC, to make a strong case for a top15 ranked opponent in his next bout.
The pain of defeat for Kara-France was somewhat softened after picking up a US$50,000 ($76,000) bonus for Fight of the Night. Adesanya and Jan Blachowicz, who beat Dominick Reyes for the vacant lightheavyweight crown in the co-main event, were also awarded performance bonuses.