UFC
welterweight turned fight night commentator Dan Hardy believes Israel Adesanya
is just two or three fights away from reaching Anderson Silva status.
The Brit claims Adesnaya’s elite level striking and technical ability put him ahead of the chasing pack at 185lb and his dominance will come clear in his next few fights.
Speaking to Submission Radio ahead of the UFC 248 main event, Hardy backed Adesanya big time. The former welterweight title challenger believes the fight against Yoel Romero is stacked in ‘The Last Stylebenders’ favour and he is only a few fights from reaching the level of legendary middleweight Anderson Silva.
“I think it’s Adesanya’s fight to
lose. I mean, that doesn’t at all diminish the threat of Yoel Romero. There’s
always that, there’s always that intangible, that massive shot, that flying
knee, whatever it is. Well, that oblique kick that tears his knee apart.
There’s lots of other things that Romero can do in a split second. Even if he’s
lost the other 24 minutes of the fight, he can always change that around. I
think the odds are stacked in Adesanya’s favour because he’s the technician,
he’s a better technical fighter than Yoel Romero. Doesn’t necessarily have the
explosive capabilities of a Yoel Romero, but has got the endurance and enough
strength to make those shots count over time. Yeah, I feel like it’s Adesanya’s
fight to lose, but the threat of losing is a very real one.”
“There was a point where everyone
thought ‘this is the right person to beat Anderson Silva’. And it got to the
stage where every time he stepped into the octagon, it was just like, there’s
not even any point in this title defense because he’s gonna make it look too
easy. And I think Adesanya’s probably two or three fights away from that
status. But he’s well on his way.”
Will Israel Adesanya be able to emulate Anderson Silva’s success as champion?