UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is not letting anything stand in his way when it comes to fighting.
Israel Adesanya is heading into one of the biggest fights of his career. For the first time, he will be going up against a man who has beaten him twice. So far in MMA Adesanya has only lost once and that was when he was going up in weight to challenge for the light heavyweight title. In his middleweight career, he is undefeated but the man who presents the biggest challenge is right around the corner.
Alex Periera has defeated Adesanya twice during their kickboxing days. Since he’s moved to MMA he has earned his way up the UFC rankings and is now going to challenge his former foe for the belt at UFC 281. Many people believe this fight is personal for both men including Adesanya. He explains exactly why in a recent interview with The MMA Hour.
“It is, but it’s personal,” he said. “Because this is about me and my legacy. This is about, I guess, rewriting history even though it is history, and I never chase this. This is about me rewriting a new path of history and just showing people what I can really do because, again, yall must have forgot. They always forget, and it’s because of this tik-tok era.
The attention span is so quick they move on so fast. So yes, this is personal for me, I’m just gonna say less. He can do all the tennis ball videos and f–king hoverboard things he wants, but for me, I’m just like, cool. You do you. He has bragging rights. So let him do that. But yeah, when it’s time, I know something he doesn’t.
Israel Adesanya has pushed opportunities to the side to focus on fighting
Adesanya is one of the most popular fighters on the planet. He has risen up the ranks and with his skills, added to his interesting personality, has become a fan favorite. Rightfully so Hollywood has been knocking. It has become commonplace for fighters these days to moonlight outside the cage with other opportunities. Adesanya is no different he says that he has been offered movie opportunities which he has turned down at this time to focus on fighting.
“I’ve turned on a lot of things. (Any movies?) Yeah, a few. There’s been some, a couple big ones,” he said. “I want to do this. I’m loving this game. If it doesn’t line up with, you know if it clashes with fighting. You’d be surprised if it clashes with fighting, I’m like, Nah, sorry. And Tim would be like, I know you’re gonna say no, but blah blah blah, I’m like, I can’t and I’d love to do it. But it’s just I don’t want to end up, you know? Yeah, yeah.”
In order to seek his revenge and keep his prominent place in the MMA world Adesanya must first defeat Pereira at UFC 281. The fight takes place in the historic Madison Square, Garden in New York City on Saturday, November 12. The middleweight title fight will serve as the main event.
