Former middleweight king Israel Adesanya, as well as teammate Dan Hooker, were captured on camera as teammate Alexander Volkanovski was on the wrong end of a heartbreaking decision loss to Islam Makhachev.
The pair were in attendance to support the aforementioned Volkanovski in his bid to become a two-weight world champion. While many expected Makhachev to be too strong for the pint-sized powerhouse from down under, nothing could be further from the truth. Makhachev did manage to implement his heavy, wrestling-based strategy, but each time, Volkanovski made it back to his feet and nearly knocked out the Dagestan delegate in the closing minute.
This though, made it all the more difficult for both the revenge-seeking Adesanya, who fights Alex Pereria in a rematch that will be legacy-defining for “Stylebender” to watch. Dan Hooker, who is currently out of action due to an arm injury, also grimaced at his teammates’ misfortune.
Israel Adesanya devastated by Buffer’s ”And Still” call
Both of the CKB fighters looked fairly confident, jovial even, as they awaited the, in their minds, already foregone conclusion of the evening that would instill Alexander Volkanovski as the 155lb champion, and solidify his “pound for pound” number one spot.
As the legendary Bruce Buffer announced “and still”, all joy drained from the Oceanic majority in the crowd. Their hero for the evening was robbed of his crowning glory. Israel Adesanya sinks into his seat with his head in his hands, as Dan Hooker loudly exclaims “What The F**k was that?”, apparently bemused at the judge’s scorecards. The clip then cuts to Volkanovski’s post-fight speech, which appears to leave Israel Adesanya in tears, or at least very close to it.
The member of the team that seems to have accepted the news best is the man who actually lost the fight. Alexander Volkanovski seems unwavering in his will to be the best, only more determined to continue to prove he is one of the all-time greats. With Yair Rodriguez defeating Josh Emmett so soundly, he will be next in line at 145 lbs. Islam Makhachev though is still firmly within Volkanovski’s line of sight.
MMAMarcus shared the clip of Israel Adesanya’s reaction to Twitter.
Israel Adesanya’s reaction to the #UFC284 main event, emotional
pic.twitter.com/WlM1ggCgqg
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(@mmamarcuss)
Who do you think wins the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereria?