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UFC 276 Flashback – Israel Adesanya Requires Oxygen Following Brutal KO Loss To Alex Pereira

Ahead of UFC 276 this weekend during International Fight Week, footage has once again emerged of reigning middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya suffering a brutal one-punch knockout loss to fellow main card feature, Alex Pereira during the pair’s time with GLORY Kickboxing. Israel Adesanya tackles Jared Cannonier this weekend in ‘Sin City’ Set to take main […]

Israel Adesanya tackles Jared Cannonier this weekend in ‘Sin City’

Set to take main event honors at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada – Adesanya attempts to secure his fifth successful defense of his undisputed middleweight crown, putting his belt on the line against the #2 ranked, Jared Cannonier.

As for Brazilian striking phenom, Pereira, the Sao Paulo finisher faces surging division staple, Sean Strickland in a potential middleweight title-eliminator in a high-profile main card outing, searching for Octagon victory number three.

Twice facing Adesanya during their respective and decorated professional kickboxing careers, Pereira holds a pair of victories over the City Kickboxing, firstly scoring a contentious unanimous decision win over the former in Shenzhen, China.

However, in rallying fashion in the pair’s March 2017 re-run, Pereira managed to spring with a brutal one-punch, left hook knockout – flooring Israel Adesanya at Glory of Heroes 7 in his native Sao Paulo.

Ahead of the pair’s respective main card features this weekend, footage has once emerged of Adesanya’s sole professional combat sports KO loss, with the Nigerian-Kiwi requiring oxygen in the squared circle following the brutal third round knockout defeat.

With Saturday night fast approaching, UFC president, Dana White remained coy on how he would match Pereira next should he land a career-best triumph against Strickland, however, admitted that a fight with Adesanya likely made sense next.

“I mean, both these guys came from GLORY Kickboxing,” Dana White said. “Alex Pereira is a former double champion there – middleweight and light heavyweight. He’s got two wins over Israel Adesanya. And, you know, he’s got two wins in the UFC right now. So taking on tough, durable, nutty Strickland, which should be a damn good fight. And if he wins, it makes a lot of sense to do the Adesanya fight.”

Israel Adesanya: Cannonier Isn’t Cut Out For The “Champ Lifestyle”

UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya doesn’t believe Jared Cannonier is cut out for the champion lifestyle. Adesanya recently spoke to Yahoo! Sports ahead of his UFC 276 title defense against Cannonier, breaking down his opponent. “Stylebender” was asked about Cannonier’s extensive résumé of notable names he’s fought in the past, and if that gives him…

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UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya doesn’t believe Jared Cannonier is cut out for the champion lifestyle.

Adesanya recently spoke to Yahoo! Sports ahead of his UFC 276 title defense against Cannonier, breaking down his opponent. “Stylebender” was asked about Cannonier’s extensive résumé of notable names he’s fought in the past, and if that gives him an advantage heading into this fight.

However, the champion says, while he admits Cannonier has fought big names, he’s never fought someone like himself on a stage as grand as International Fight Week. With that being said, there’s levels to the game, and Adesanya doesn’t believe Cannonier is cut out for the champion lifestyle.

“There’s levels to this sh*t. He’s fought those guys, yeah, sure, but has he ever fought a guy like myself in International Fight Week, with the amount of press he has to do, the amount of attention and energy this takes?

“It’s not for everyone, man. This is an acquired taste, this lifestyle, this champ lifestyle. And I don’t feel like he’s cut out for it. I know I am.”

Cannonier enters this contest with back-to-back victories over Kelvin Gastelum and Derek Brunson. He has only lost one of his last six contests, that one loss being to former champion and recent title challenger Robert Whittaker.

Now, he faces off against Adesanya, undefeated at middleweight and one of the most dominant champions in the UFC today. The 32-year-old will be making his fifth title defense against Cannonier in Las Vegas.

What do you make of Israel Adesanya suggesting Cannonier isn’t cut out for the champion lifestyle? Sound off in the comments!

Israel Adesanya ‘Can’t Wait’ to Face Ex-Kickboxing Foe Pereira in MMA

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Strickland Wary Of Being “Gina Carano’d” Ahead Of UFC 276

Sean Strickland may be prepared to fight at UFC 276, but he’s far less confident about handling his pre-fight media obligations. “Tarzan” is set to take on Alex Pereira on the main card of UFC 276. A victory for Strickland would be his seventh in a row and potentially set him up to fight the…

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Sean Strickland may be prepared to fight at UFC 276, but he’s far less confident about handling his pre-fight media obligations.

“Tarzan” is set to take on Alex Pereira on the main card of UFC 276. A victory for Strickland would be his seventh in a row and potentially set him up to fight the winner of the night’s main event between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier.

For all his success in the cage, Strickland has arguably attracted more attention for his outspoken personality outside of fighting. The 31-year-old has never been shy about speaking his mind, and he recently shared some “bad news” via Instagram.

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A post shared by Sean Strickland (@sstricklandmma)

“I’ve got some bad fucking news. The UFC wants me as part of the press conference. And I’m a little fucking scared, and I’ll tell you why I’m scared. Because I’m not talking to you social degenerates on Instagram, I’m talking to the overlords. ESPN, fucking Walt Disney man. You know, and if I fuck up and if I say something wrong, I’m gonna get fucking Gina Carano’d. And I don’t want that. So I really need to sit there, and just shut the fuck up. I might even bring headphones, and just like – loud music the whole time. So, I’m a little nervous you guys. I need to do the right thing and just shut the fuck up.”

Strickland’s reference to Gina Carano has to do with the women’s MMA pioneer getting “cancelled” for comments she made last year. Carano established a successful acting career in her post-fighting life and had a prominent role on Disney’s Star Wars property The Mandalorian, but was removed from the show for her controversial statements.

In addition to owning Star Wars, Disney also owns ESPN and by extension has a fairly significant investment in the UFC. Strickland has already been suspended from Twitter for some abrasive comments he made in May, so perhaps his concerns about managing himself at the UFC 276 press conference aren’t entirely unfounded.

The pay-per-view event’s main card has already lost Miesha Tate vs. Lauren Murphy, so hopefully “Tarzan” can handle his press conference appearance and make it to the cage on Saturday.

What do you make of Sean Strickland’s concerns that he might get “Gina Carano’d” at the UFC 276 press-conference?

Continue Reading Strickland Wary Of Being “Gina Carano’d” Ahead Of UFC 276 at MMA News.

Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira Fight After UFC 276 ‘Makes A Lot of Sense’ to Dana White

With a win at UFC 276, Alex Pereira could find himself in the position for a middleweight title fight against reigning champion Israel Adesanya. While speaking to Yahoo Sports, UFC president Dana White talked about Pereira’s upcoming bout with Sean Strickland and suggested that if ‘Poatan’ is victorious, a fight with Adesanya “makes a lot […]

With a win at UFC 276, Alex Pereira could find himself in the position for a middleweight title fight against reigning champion Israel Adesanya.

While speaking to Yahoo Sports, UFC president Dana White talked about Pereira’s upcoming bout with Sean Strickland and suggested that if ‘Poatan’ is victorious, a fight with Adesanya “makes a lot of sense.”

“I mean, both these guys came from Glory Kickboxing. Pereira is a former double champion there — middleweight and light heavyweight. He’s got two wins over Israel Adesanya,” said White. “And, you know, he’s got two wins in the UFC right now. So taking on tough, durable, nutty Strickland, which should be a damn good fight. And if he wins, it makes a lot of sense to do the Adesanya fight.”

Pereira faced Adesanya in the Glory kickboxing promotion on two separate occasions. Their first meeting was at Glory of Heroes 1 in April 2016. Pereira won the bout via unanimous decision. Their rematch came at Glory of Heroes 15 almost one year later. Pereira put an exclamation point on the rivalry by knocking out Adesanya.

To this day, Alex Pereira is still the only man to knock out Adesanya in combat sports.

“If Pereira can win this fight, [it] puts him in a very fun fight with [a] great storyline against Adesanya,” said White.

Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya Must Get Past Their UFC 276 Opponents Before a Potential Showdown Can Happen

Before ‘Poatan’ and ‘The Last Stylebender’ can meet in the Octagon, both fighters have some business to attend to at UFC 276 on Saturday. Alex Pereira faces the ever-controversial Sean Strickland on the evening’s main card. Currently ranked No. 4, Strickland is riding a six-fight win streak and looks to secure a title opportunity with a win over Pereira.

In the main event of the evening, Adesanya will defend his title against the No. 2 ranked contender Jared Cannonier. Winner of five of his last six, Cannonier earned his opportunity with an emphatic win over Derek Brunson at UFC 271.

“If you look at these two, both guys are knockout artists. Both guys have huge power,” said White. People don’t– for some reason, people don’t give Adesanya the credit for the knockouts. This guy’s got 15 wins by knockout. Cannonier has got 10 wins by knockout.”

“Both guys have been criticized about their wrestling. You know, Cannonier has worked on his wrestling over the last couple of years. Stylistically, I see this as a gunfight, man. I think these two are gonna come in and start blasting each other. And this should be a very fun main event. And Adesanya, you know … he loves the belt and what it’s done for him. It’s obviously made him money and lots of other things. He’s looking for highlights now. He wants to just start finishing people with incredible finishes. So it’s got incredible written all over it.”

Israel Adesanya Criticizes ‘Idiot’ Sean Strickland, Sparring Techniques: ‘He’s A Rotten Apple’

Reigning UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has claimed that he would never spar with surging division contender, Sean Strickland, criticizing the North Carolina native’s tendency to spar in a hard manner. Adesanya, who headlines UFC 276 this weekend during International Fight Week, attempts to secure his fifth successful defense of his undisputed middleweight crown, tackling […]

Adesanya, who headlines UFC 276 this weekend during International Fight Week, attempts to secure his fifth successful defense of his undisputed middleweight crown, tackling the #2 ranked contender, Jared Cannonier.

As for Strickland, the streaking #4 ranked middleweight contender, also features on the UFC 276 main card – drawing former two-weight GLORY Kickboxing champion, Alex Pereira in a potential title-eliminator at 185lbs.

Israel Adesanya criticizes Sean Strickland and his tendency to spar harder than usual

Describing Strickland as a “rotten apple” with “screws loose”, Adesanya insisted that he was somewhat of a fan of the middleweight striker, however, has no time for his heavy sparring tendencies.

“Sean Strickland, he’s a bad motherf*cker,” Israel Adesanya said on his official YouTube channel. “Like, literally bad. Rotten apple. But I like the guy, he’s funny and he likes to talk sh*t as well. And his stand-up – I’ve seen him do more damage on YouTube in sparring than in his fights. Put it that way. I’ve seen his sparring footages (sic) and I would never spar with an idiot like that. I’ve hurt people in sparring before and I’m just like, ‘Sh*t, my bad.’”

“I’ll pull back with the body shot or whatever but I’ve seen what he does,” Israel Adesanya continued. “He’s got many screws loose, many screws loose.” (Transcribed by Bloody Elbow)

Headlining for the second time this year, Nigerian-Kiwi striker, Adesanya managed to defeat former undisputed champion, Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC 271 back in February – landing a second career win over the division standout.

During his reign as middleweight kingpin, Adesanya also holds successful title defenses against the trio of Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, and Marvin Vettori.

Max Holloway Doubts Conor McGregor Makes UFC Return: ‘Why Would He Come Back?’

Former undisputed UFC featherweight champion, Max Holloway has questioned the immediate fighting future of his former foe and fellow former division titleholder, Conor McGregor – questioning what reason the Dubliner would have to make an Octagon comeback. Holloway, who shared the Octagon with the 33-year-old Crumlin native back in 2014, suffered a unanimous decision loss […]

Holloway, who shared the Octagon with the 33-year-old Crumlin native back in 2014, suffered a unanimous decision loss against his then-fellow featherweight division prospect – as he dropped his third promotional defeat.

Returning to the Octagon this weekend at UFC 276 during International Fight Week, Hawaii striking favorite, Holloway is set to meet with undisputed featherweight champion and two-time opponent, Alexander Volkanovski in the pair’s trilogy title bout.

Last time out, Holloway, who managed to land a trio of successful title defenses during his undisputed championship reign, managed to defeat Yair Rodriguez with a unanimous decision win back in November.

During and post-fight, however, Holloway was widely linked to a rematch against the aforenoted former two-weight champion, McGregor – with the latter notably playing up a potential re-run when he posted footage of him engaging in an impromptu, somewhat staredown with Holloway from his living room.

Max Holloway can’t fathom why Conor McGregor would make UFC comeback

Speaking on the potential Octagon return for McGregor – who suffered a fractured tibia back in July of last year in his trilogy rubber match against Poirier, Holloway questioned what would entice the former to make a return to the UFC following his recovery from injury.

“At the end of the day, I don’t blame him – why would he come back?” Max Holloway said on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani of a Conor McGregor return. “Everybody in the fight game is trying to get to that point where they can make enough (money) and live their life, and get out, and get ahead.”

“We’ll see what happens, you know. I think the (Charles) Oliveira one [fight] is way more funner (sic) – way more possible actually, to be honest,” Max Holloway said. “Funner-wise (sic) though I would say, the Conor fight, the Conor fight would be super fun.”

Despite Holloway’s theory on McGregor’s fighting future – or lack thereof, the Dubliner has been continually linked with a slew of potential opponents for a 2023 Octagon return, most recently in the form of a welterweight division outing against two-time title challenger, Jorge Masvidal.