“Keep my name out your f*cking mouth,” is what people heard Israel Adesanya say with a laugh after Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov called him out. But now it seems like he will let his buddy Michael ‘Venom’ Page handle business for him. As ‘Izzy’ is preparing for UFC Fight Night 250 on Feb 1st, he attended a presser where he answered some pretty sensational questions.

This is where he decided to leave his ‘feud’ with Shara to ‘Venom’ who expressed an interest in facing the Dagestani after the call out to ‘The Last Stylebender’. Adesanya is busy for his first non-PPV, non-title fight in six years against Nassourdine Imavov but reeling from two straight losses has not deterred his spirit at all. On the other hand, Magomedov said as per Verdict MMA, ” I have had 15 pro-MMA fights And never shot a single takedown. I promise MVP will be shooting on me.”

Adesanya answered questions from his future plans, to a prediction between Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev. Among that was a query about how Magomedov had called him out. He said, “Uh MVP will handle that this weekend but um him saying that I am a more difficult fight. If that’s what he thinks, sure. But he had a cool knockout last time. That was cool, the double-spinning back fist. That was cool but he is still, you know, climbing the ranks. He said that I ducked him back in kickboxing. I never heard of him until I saw him in the UFC. I don’t duck anybody but yeah, cool knockout though.”

Let’s go back to the not-so-distant past, shall we? After the Russian won against Armen Petrosyan with a deadly double back fist at UFC 308, he declared himself the best striker in the middleweight and called out Adesanya. In a reaction video posted to his YouTube, Adesanya produced a pair of memes as a reaction to the callout. “What the f*ck did I do? What he says, ‘F*ck me’ for?” he hilariously referred to rapper 50 Cent’s perplexed reaction to being verbally castigated by boxer Floyd Mayweather in 2014.

So the ingredients for the simmering fire were already there it just needed a little more spark. Whether these two will face off in the Octagon is up to anyone’s guess at this point. However, the fight between Nassourdine Imavov and Israel Adesanya is sure to deliver some fireworks. In the lead-up to the fight, let’s look at one aspect of Adesanya’s mindset training that might win him this fight.

Israel Adesanya’s peculiar lifestyle choice that may have him win at UFC Saudi Arabia

The Nigerian Kiwi fighter’s mental fortitude plays a huge role in his success. He tends to visualize his victories and manifest his goals by speaking them into existence. He also embraces the pressure that comes with being at the top of the MMA mountain. Even after tough losses since 2023 he has not lost his resilience and returns to the gym hungry to prove everyone wrong and evolve as a fighter. Even at the age of 35, he had warned his critics that he was not done with the middle week category yet.

Uncrowned shared the video where Ariel Helwani and Israel Adesanya spoke about the sacrifices he had to make for MMA. Helwani asked, “Can I ask you – was that a conscious decision on your part, the abstaining?” The former two-time middleweight champ replied with a hilarious take on his libido. He said, “Yeah it was.. it’s. Look it’s always there. I am always horny but it’s like you just, you know – let’s put it this way – I like the freedom of thought. I like the freedom of choice so I like to know I can do something but I choose not to. And yeah it’s a readily available option but I just chose not to as much this camp.”

We’ll just have to wait and see if Adesanya’s restraint results in a victory for him on February 1st. For now, us fans can only sit and wait for fight night to roll around. Who do you think takes the W? Let us know in the comments down below.