There is a dollar amount that will get UFC champions Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya to fight each other.
A super-fight between Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight king Kamaru Usman and Middleweight ruler Israel Adesanya does not come cheap.
Usman is currently preparing to defend his title against rival Colby Covington at UFC 268, taking place inside Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sat., Nov. 6 via ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV). As Usman closes the gap between him and Georges St-Pierre in many fans’ eyes as the all-time best welterweight, people are curious about Usman vs. Adesanya.
“Adesanya is my guy, that’s something me and him would have to discuss. There’s a difference between fighting and competing,” Usman told ESPN during UFC 268 fight week (h/t LowKickMMA). “If me and him decide we want to compete, and the UFC is throwing 100 million dollars at us, then we’ll make it happen.”
Usman previously expressed his hesitation towards fighting Adesanya in a 2020 interview with UFC commentator, comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan.
“I don’t see myself ever fighting Israel. Even though a lot of people have hinted toward it,” Usman said the JRE MMA Show last year (h/t BJPenn.com). “I don’t see myself fighting him. Having two belts in Nigeria is better than just having one guy hold two belts. There’s no desire there. That’s my guy. He’s special.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 268 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPNEWS/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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