Undefeated Striking Sensation Says Yair Rodriguez’ Epic knockout At UFC Denver Was Far From A Lucky Shot
Undefeated striking virtuoso Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya has garnered 12 MMA knockouts, with an overall record of 15-0 in MMA and have a massive cult following. In his most recent outing, a brash and flashy contender of the UFC’s middleweight division scores a first-round TKO win over Derek Brunson at UFC 230 earlier this month.
The impressive win over Brunson signaled that the New Zealander is a real threat in the middleweight division. Adesanya shifted to MMA after having a successful kickboxing career. Now he’s set sights on top name fighters for his next bout.
Adesanya who’s a striker itself weighs on Yair Rodriguez’s highlight reel elbow knockout win over ‘Korean Zombie’ in the main headliner of UFC Fight Night 139 this past weekend. (H/T BJPenn)
“THAT [ELBOW KNOCKOUT BY YAIR RODRIGUEZ] WAS CRAZY. AND I’M SEEING A LOT OF PEOPLE SAYING THAT THAT WAS LUCKY, THAT WAS A LUCKY KNOCKOUT… LIKE, REALLY SMART PEOPLE WHO, THAT ARE LIKE LEGENDS OF THE GAME.
LITERALLY, THE EXAMPLE THAT THEY GAVE WAS, ‘WELL, HE THREW IT TWICE BEFOREHAND. HE THREW IT TWICE BEFOREHAND AND FAILED. SO THIS TIME HE GOT IT,’ AND I’M SAYING IT’S INSTINCT, IT’S TIMING AND KNOWING WHERE THE HEAD IS GONNA BE NOT WHERE IT IS, WHERE IT’S GONNA BE. AND HIS ARGUMENT WAS, ‘AH, WELL HE THREW IT TWICE BEFOREHAND AND FAILED. WAS THAT INSTINCT AND TIMING AS WELL?’
MY COUNTER-ARGUMENT IS, HEY, LOOK… EVEN AGAINST BRAD TAVARES IN THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST ROUND, I WAS THROWING MY JAB, THROWING MY JAB, THROWING MY JAB. I WASN’T LANDING IT. AND THEN EVENTUALLY, FROM THE SECOND ROUND, I BLOODIED UP HIS FACE WITH MY JAB. AND I STARTED CONNECTING MY TWO. THAT’S NOT LUCK, THAT’S NOT LUCK. THAT IS TIMING, THAT IS TRIAL AND ERROR, THAT IS READJUSTMENT AND RESETTING.
LUCK IS SOMETHING IF I COVER MY EYES AND THROW SOMETHING AND HOPEFULLY, I’M NOT EVEN AIMING AT THE CHIN AND IT HITS. WELL THIS GUY LOOKED AT HIM (CHAN SUNG JUNG), DUCKED HIS HEAD DOWN, HE COULDN’T SEE BUT HE KNEW WHERE THE HEAD WAS GONNA BE, HE READJUSTED AND BOOM. HIT ’EM. THAT WAS SICK. THAT WAS SOME MATRIX-TYPE SH*T. DON’T AT ME. THAT WAS NOT LUCK.”
This epic five-round affair hailed as one of the best fights of the year.
Share your thoughts, do you think Yair Rodriguez was lucky to land a stunning uppercut elbow that en route to victory over Chan Sung Jung? But Adesanya says it wasn’t a lucky shot.
