“I Love the Way He Moves” – Israel Adesanya Heaps Praises on Cory Sandhagen

Israel Adesanya is all set to defend his middleweight title for the second time. After becoming the king of the division by beating Robert Whittaker, ‘The Last Stylebender‘ fought a beast in Yoel Romero to mark his first title defense.

However, the fight with ‘The Soldier of God’ could not live up to the hype that it had garnered. Everyone expected total carnage. Yet the fight saw very little exchanges between the two.

Adesanya brushed away allegations of escaping Yoel by saying that footwork is an art. He said it is a skill that very few MMA fighters can employ.

He feels that UFC bantamweight Cory Sandhagen uses this technique as best as possible. In an interview with Luke Thomas, he said:

“I like ‘The Sandman’. He is good. I can’t remember which fight it was, but whenever he has fought. Every fight he has, I love the way he moves.”

“I love the way he sets up his traps, I love the way he switches. And he hides the switches. I like the way he drifts, yeah. The way he switch-hits as well. He is nice with it.”

Israel Adesanya names legend who mastered the footwork

Carrying on the same nerve of quick-footed gameplay, Adesanya remarked that it is very rare for fighters to even understand the skill, let alone master it. He said that it continues to be scarce, but named one legend who employed it. Talking about the use of the skill, he said:

“Hundred percent! Very short supply. Who else can I think of? Mighty Mouse, definitely. If you look at Brad Riddell, in certain fights that I have seen him [in], he has really nice footwork. Yeah, it’s really scarce in MMA”.

Brad ‘Quake’ Riddell is a fellow City Kickboxing trainee who competes in the lightweight division of the UFC. He will take on Alex da Silva on the same card as Adesanya vs Costa.

Adesanya silences allegations of “evasiveness”

As Adesanya explained the merits of having quick footwork, he targeted all those who said that he runs from opponents while fighting.

“You wanna call it running? There’s no running here. I make people miss. And I make them pay. I make people walk into traps. I make people think that’s an opening. And before they realize it, ‘Oh f**k!’. They think, ‘Oh, that’s a hole in his game. Let me exploit that’, and they jump in the hole and f**k around. They realize it’s a trap. They realize it’s not a regular hole. So, yeah, there are certain things we’ve been working on.”

Undoubtedly, Adesanya’s claims have some massive credibility. Not only has he depicted speed, but he also caught opponents off-guard with his footwork. He displays extremely polished skills in striking while moving backward. And of course, his record speaks volumes about just how much it enhances his arsenal.

Do you agree with Israel Adesanya? Let us know in the comments section!