Tag: Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya On PPV Streak Ending In UFC Return: ‘It’s Not Like In The F*cking Apex’

Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya isn’t fazed about competing at a more low-key event to kick off his 2025 campaign. Having risen to prominence on MMA’s biggest stage in quick time, “The Last Stylebender” competed on pay-per-view lineups 14 times in a row between his knockout win over Derek Brunson at UFC 230 […]

Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya isn’t fazed about competing at a more low-key event to kick off his 2025 campaign.

Having risen to prominence on MMA’s biggest stage in quick time, “The Last Stylebender” competed on pay-per-view lineups 14 times in a row between his knockout win over Derek Brunson at UFC 230 in 2018 and submission loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 in Australia this past August.

That setback this year marked Adesanya’s second straight, coming 11 months on from his shock removal from the throne at the hands of Sean Strickland. The Nigerian-New Zealander now finds him out of the championship conversation for the first time in years.

And with that will come a return to UFC Fight Night action for the first time since his headliner with Brad Tavares in 2018, as he does battle with the surging Nassourdine Imavov at the event in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 1.

Given that card’s location and the habit since 2020 for many events to take place within the crowdless surroundings of the Apex, Adesanya isn’t expecting the magnitude of his next fight to feel as different as some have predicted.

“I still get paid. There’s still a referee, it’s two of us in there, there’s a crowd. It’s not like in the f*cking Apex or something, so it doesn’t feel any different,” Adesanya said during an interview uploaded to his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel. “I think people are making it out to be something how they would react to it, but they’re not in my shoes. They’re not in my shorts.

“It’s a Saudi Arabia Fight Night, first of all. I still get paid. It still feels like you’re fighting Israel Adesanya. This is the biggest fight of his (Imavov’s) life. I have to be the one to halt that,” Adesanya continued. “It still feels the same. It doesn’t feel any different.”

While he expects to feel the same making the walk, Adesanya will hope to get a different result than in his two previous outings.

Having admitted that he’s toward the end of his career as an active fighter, “The Last Stylebender” will look to ensure that his stint in the UFC doesn’t conclude on a losing skid by defeating Imavov for his first win since a memorable knockout of Alex Pereira in April 2023.

VIDEO: Israel Adesanya Reacts To Inclusion In Manel Kape’s UFC Tampa Octagon Interview

One of the stand out performances from the final UFC event of 2024 came courtesy of Manel “Starboy” Kape. The flyweight contender returned to the win column with one of his best performances inside the Octagon to date against Bruno Silva. Kape looked incredibly fast and accurate in Tampa and though he can still be […]

One of the stand out performances from the final UFC event of 2024 came courtesy of Manel “Starboy” Kape. The flyweight contender returned to the win column with one of his best performances inside the Octagon to date against Bruno Silva.

Kape looked incredibly fast and accurate in Tampa and though he can still be a divisive character, displays like this make it easy to remember why some fans were so excited for him to arrive in the UFC. It doesn’t seem like this win will be enough for him to get his first shot at the title but he won’t be far off following this victory.

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was enjoying some food whilst watching the Portuguese stand out go to work during his YouTube reactions to the fights.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he heard his own name after Kape used his time on the mic to reignite an old feud. At UFC 293, Kape and Adesanya got into a heated exchange at the press conference due to the flyweight’s comments about one of Adesanya’s close teammates, Kai Kara-France.

After getting his hand raised, Kape spent part of his post-fight interview calling out the likes of Kara-France, Adesanya and Brandon Moreno. Having just given “Starboy” lots of credit for his performance, “The Last Stylebender” was caught off guard but he did find the whole thing amusing rather than taking it to heart.

“Why’d he say f*** me for? Man, I give this guy this credit like he’s looking nice and then he said ‘F*** you’. Hey, I still keep it real man, he f****** showed out. Hey man, this shows I been in his head this whole time, I didn’t even think it was like that but he did well, good job… little b**** a** n****.”

Breaking: Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov Booked for UFC Saudi Arabia on February 1

Breaking: Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov Booked for UFC Saudi Arabia on February 1The UFC has made it official, Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov has been booked for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on…

Breaking: Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov Booked for UFC Saudi Arabia on February 1

The UFC has made it official, Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov has been booked for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 1. Former champion Israel Adesanya takes on rising contender Nassourdine Imavov and both are in a must-win scenario.

Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov

Adesanya (24-3) remains one of the UFC’s biggest stars. Known for his precision striking and dynamic style, the Nigerian-New Zealander held the middleweight title from 2019 until earlier this year, with five successful defenses during his reign. This fight marks Adesanya’s return to the Octagon after a loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293, where he dropped the belt in a stunning upset.

Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov

On the other side of the cage, Imavov (15-4, 1 NC) is riding a wave of momentum. The Frenchman is on a three-fight winning streak, showcasing his versatility with wins by knockout, submission, and decision. Known for his well-rounded skill set, Imavov has steadily climbed the middleweight rankings since joining the UFC in 2020 and now faces the toughest test of his career against the division’s former king.

The news was made official by the UFC’s social media accounts. Additionally, the Saudi Arabia UFC fight card, will also feature Shara Bullet Magomedov vs. Michael Venom Page.

Shara Bullet Magomedov vs. Michael Venom Page 1

Israel Adesanya Explains Picking Ian Garry To Upset Shavkat Rakhmonov At UFC 310

Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is envisioning Ian Garry having his hand raised over Shavkat Rakhmonov this weekend. Garry has the opportunity to stake his claim for a first shot at the welterweight title on Saturday night, when he co-headlines the UC 310 pay-per-view opposite a fellow undefeated contender in Rakhmonov. The Irishman […]

Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is envisioning Ian Garry having his hand raised over Shavkat Rakhmonov this weekend.

Garry has the opportunity to stake his claim for a first shot at the welterweight title on Saturday night, when he co-headlines the UC 310 pay-per-view opposite a fellow undefeated contender in Rakhmonov.

The Irishman was originally slated to return in the main event of next weekend’s UFC Fight Night in Tampa against Joaquin Buckley. But with champ Belal Muhammad being forced out of his defense against “Nomad” in Las Vegas, “The Future” has stepped up for a title eliminator.

Despite never tasting defeat in his professional career, Garry will enter the cage as a sizable underdog on Dec. 7, with his line reading +295 compared to the Kazakh star at -375.

That, however, hasn’t stopped one of the sport’s best backing the Dublin native to get the job done at Rakhmonov’s expense.

During a recent video uploaded to his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, Adesanya broke down this weekend’s numbered event at T-Mobile Arena.

“The Last Stylebender” gave a particularly thorough breakdown for the co-main event, which is arguably set to be the night’s most anticipated matchup.

And when it comes to his prediction, Adesanya is expecting Garry’s technical striking and underrated grappling to pave the way for an upset over Rakhmonov.

“Shavkat, he’s a mauler. … Ian, second Irish sensation,” Adesanya said. “I grappled with him (Garry), he’s a good grappler…he’s slick. He knows how to put things together well. You watch his striking, his distance, his awareness. … That’s where he’s going to have an advantage in this fight.

“I think he’s going to be able to touch Shavkat. But he’s got to be careful,” Adesanya continued. “Use that jab, use the teep, keep Shavkat away. … For me, I like this fight. I’mma go with Ian Garry. I think it’s going to go to a decision. … There was something he (Garry) was saying. I saw a clip of him at a press conference talking about Shavkat, talking about, ‘I want to be the guy to take that 0 away.’ That’s the energy. That’s that Goku spirit very few people have.”

Garry will look to prove Adesanya’s assessment correct come fight night in “Sin City,” when he and his former training partner Rakhmonov feature on a PPV main card that will be topped by Alexandre Pantoja’s latest flyweight title defense.

Israel Adesanya Reflects On Settling The Feud With Dricus Du Plessis

We’ve seen it happen time and time again where the tension that exists pre-fight between two competitors is put to bed once they meet inside the Octagon. This was certainly the case in the main event of UFC 305 in August where Israel Adesanya returned to challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title. The […]

We’ve seen it happen time and time again where the tension that exists pre-fight between two competitors is put to bed once they meet inside the Octagon. This was certainly the case in the main event of UFC 305 in August where Israel Adesanya returned to challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title.

The feud dated back over a year and reached boiling point following Du Plessis’ win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 where in his post-fight interview, he was joined in the cage by Adesanya for a heated exchange. Unfortunately, “Stillknocks” wasn’t able to make the quick turn around to fight the champion at UFC 293 but with Adesanya losing the title only for Du Plessis to win it from Sean Strickland at UFC 297, the match-up came back around.

After Du Plessis submitted “The Last Stylebender” in the fourth round to defend the title in Perth, they shared a brief but respectful exchange in the immediate aftermath. Footage later came out on social media of one final meeting between them backstage where they pleasantly parted ways.

In a recent appearance on Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant podcast, Adesanya spoke about putting the rivalry with Du Plessis to bed.

“Yeah we’re cool. After the fight, we had a nice discussion, yeah it was cool. Just like a moment and then at the end he said, ‘If you’re ever in South Africa, you know, tap in’ and I was like ‘yeah sure’ and I said when I see you again, I’ll try and kill you and he goes ‘I’ll try and kill you too’ and we just hugged.”

He said that despite the animosity that previously existed between them, it’s normal for fighters to shake hands and put the past behind them after competing against one another.

“That’s how most fighters are, there’s only some who take it to that place and then like keep it like that after the fight but nah, we’re all on the same journey and again, he’s achieved his dream now.”