Israel Adesanya was devastated seeing his friend Kamaru Usman get knocked out.
MMA fans around the world witnessed a pretty shocking moment at UFC 278, when Leon Edwards pulled off a last minute head kick knockout to dethrone the top pound-for-pound king in Kamaru Usman.
As he does for most pay-per-view events, Israel Adesanya filmed himself watching the fights, and he captured his live reaction to the monumental comeback knockout.
Adesanya and Usman are buddies, and along with Francis Ngannou, they call themselves Africa’s “Three Kings” as they all held UFC gold. The middleweight champion was left speechless, looking equally shocked and devastated as his friend looked to be on his way to another dominant victory, only to be badly knocked out.
After a few seconds being in utter disbelief, Adesanya reacted. “Oh man. I was saying, the parry. He parried too low. F—k! In the f—king last round! F—k!”
Adesanyas reaction pic.twitter.com/fxSddicm9r
— ??????????? (@TheArtOfWar6) August 22, 2022
Although visually still upset and sad for his friend, Adesanya also applauded Edwards, who he shares a manager with.
“Rocky. A real life Rocky story. This is the game we play. F—k,” he said. “As much as I am happy for Leon, I’m more happy for Tim (Simpson). Because Tim, our manager, I know how much this meant to him. It’s bittersweet. I’m so happy for Leon and Tim, but then I’m so sad for Kamaru. But then also I know, like the rematch – they’re going to have a rematch clause or something, so I know it’s going to be in there.”