Chael Sonnen Reveals 16-Year-Old Israel Adesanya’s Message to Him Before Iconic Anderson Silva Fight in the UFC

The discussion of who is the best middleweight of all time has been a hot topic in the world of mixed martial arts. For a long time, Anderson Silva was considered the best UFC middleweight of all time. However, since Israel Adesanya entered the UFC in 2019, new conversations have sparked around the topic.

Adesanya has become a dominant force in the middleweight division, and his recent win over Alex Pereira has cemented his place among the greats. Now a two-time middleweight champion, many may argue that he is on his way to being the absolute best.

Chael Sonnen recalls Israel Adesanya tweeting against him

Chael Sonnen, a retired UFC fighter and current MMA analyst, recently spoke about Adesanya in an interview with Ariel Helwani. Sonnen recalled the time when he faced Anderson Silva and how Adesanya was just a 16-year-old kid from New Zealand who was tweeting about the fight. Sonnen claimed that Adesanya was taking Anderson‘s side and didn’t like him.

“Israel Adesanya was 16 years old when I had my business with Anderson. He was a 16-year-old skinny kid from New Zealand. he kept tweeting. I kept seeing his tweets and he was taking Anderson’s side. he didn’t like me”, Sonnen said.

Read More – Alex Pereira Claims He Suffered From Injury That “Messed” Him Up Heading Into His Rematch With Israel Adesanya at UFC 287

Sonnen‘s comments about Adesanya shed some light on the fighter’s early days. At just 16 years old, Adesanya was already invested in the world of MMA and had an opinion on the sport’s biggest names. It’s interesting to think about how Adesanya went on to face and defeat Anderson Silva later in his career. It must’ve been a full circle moment for the teenager to stand face-to-face with his icon in the octagon.

Chael Sonnen vs Anderson Silva

Chael Sonnen faced Anderson Silva two times. The first fight was at UFC 117. Sonnen was outperforming Silva in the fight and had won the first four rounds in the books of all three judges. However, Silva locked him in a triangle choke submission to win in the fifth round.

Their second fight was at UFC 148 in 2012. Silva was on a 12-fight win streak when he faced Chael Sonnen. The fight took a speedy start but ended in the second round. Silva TKO’ed Chael Sonnen in the 2nd minute of the 2nd round to retain his middleweight title. He even won the Knockout of the Night bonus for this fight.

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The discussion of who is the best middleweight of all time is still ongoing. However, Israel Adesanya‘s recent win over Alex Pereira has shown that he is a dominant force in the division. It will be interesting to see how Adesanya’s legacy shapes up in the future.