‘The Last Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya is known for his prowess on the mic as well as inside the Octagon. The current UFC Middleweight champion was initially supposed to fight Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 293. However, Du Plessis pulled out of the fight owing to an injury. Sean Strickland will take his stead as the two go at each other for the title at the main event this week. Although ‘DDP’ pulled out of the fight, the battle is far from ending.
The #1 ranked middleweight has come under fire from Dana White, the president of the UFC. But more importantly, his rival Adesanya seems to be making use of this turn of events to criticize the middleweight. The two have a long-standing feud that finds its roots in their heritage among other questions. The feud also meant that the fight would have been one fans were excited to watch. However, in a new interview, ‘Stylebender’ threw some more shade at the former challenger.
Israel Adesanya on playing the game
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When asked about ‘DDP’s exit, Adesanya remarked, “Dricus doesn’t know how to play the game.” He elaborated on what he felt was Du Plessis’ shortcoming. ‘Stylebender continued, “You can’t sit on your f**king, is it ranking or whatever and think you got it locked in. This is the UFC. If you look back at the history of the UFC, s**t happens. You know. So he thought he was sitting pretty, but he might have to fight two more times before he gets a shot at this.”
After hinting that the journey to the title might take longer than what ‘Stillknocks’ expected, Adesanya further established his dominance. He said, “But, he doesn’t call the shots, I do. I need you to understand that. I call the shots. You don’t call the shot d**kless. You need to understand this.” Following this, ‘Izzy’ also gave an interesting revelation regarding the title fight. He said, “You can sit pretty wherever you want. But if I decide to I might give it to whoever wins between Costa and Khamzat. Not you.”
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‘Izzy’ on following MMA News
After his statements on ‘Stillknocks’, the interview took a humorous turn. ‘Stylebender’ talked about how he wasn’t up to date with MMA news at all, even about this particular detail of his fight with Sean Strickland. Adesanya said, “But Jared’s here backup. I didn’t even know he was a backup until like yesterday. I saw him I was like what are you doing here? He told me he was the backup I was like ‘Oh shit’. Shows how much I know. I don’t really follow MMA news that much anymore.”
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While Adesanya and Strickland have disagreements of their own, some fans expressed their disappointment at not being able to see the ‘Stylebender’-‘Stillknocks’ feud take form. Their arguments stem from their opinions on their national identities and subsequent disagreements. Since Du Plessis has not responded yet, we will have to wait and see how the #1 ranked middleweight takes this news.
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