MMA SQUARED: Israel Adesanya crowned as first Naruto-weight champion at UFC 243

Weebs rejoice across the globe.

I know very little about anime and had to do a bunch of googling to understand Izzy’s tweet and let me tell you, the word Naruto does not return exclusively SFW results.

I got heavy Anderson Silva vibes throughout the main event, starting with the walkouts. Watching Adesanya evade Whittaker’s offense, getting his timing and unloading late in the first round. The last second knockdown that almost resulted in a finish looked quite a bit like Silva’s second fight against Rich Franklin. It has less to do with his fight style than just the fight trajectory and skill gap between him and his competition. He’s almost the exact same age that Silva was when he won the MW title too, and might be vulnerable on the ground. I hope we see him against Costa, Romero, and Cannonier (but not Jon Jones) soon.

Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Chris