Ahead of next weekend’s UFC 276 title headliner against Jared Cannonier, reigning middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has predicted a similar performance in store for the challenger as to his display against Brazilian contender, Paulo Costa back in September 2020.
Vying for his fifth successful defense of the undisputed middleweight championship, Israel Adesanya makes his second Octagon walk of the year at the International Fight Week event, having previously taken main event honors against common-foe, former champion, Robert Whittaker back in February.
Closing the curtain on UFC 271 at the Toyota Center, Adesanya landed a second career win over the former undisputed champion, landing a close, unanimous decision victory over Whittaker.
As for Cannonier, the Texan headlines his first pay-per-view event for the organization when he draws Adesanya next Saturday – having earned his title tilt with an impressive second round ground strikes win over another common opponent, Derek Brunson.
Israel Adesanya lays out his prediction for UFC 276 next weekend
Predicting how he plans to defeat Cannonier next weekend at the T-Mobile Arena, Adesanya recalled his one-sided ‘Fight Island’ knockout win over the aforenoted, Costa – however, insisted that he would likely refrain from hip-thrusting this time around.
“Prediction? I’ll give you a prediction,” Israel Adesanya told assembled media during a press conference in Australia. “It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be fun – it’s gonna look a lot like the (Paulo) Costa fight, minus the little tap-tap at the end, but it will look a lot like the Costa fight.”
Headlining an Abu Dhabi, UAE card against Costa back in September 2020, Adesanya handed the Belo Horizonte native his first professional loss in the form of a second round high-kick and subsequent strikes knockout loss to successfully land his second title defense.
Adesanya x Cannonier headlines the upcoming UFC 276 card as part of an undisputed championship doubleheader, with a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and former champion, Max Holloway set to co-headline in a third title fight between the duo.