Defiant Adesanya Finds Common Ground with GSP, Silva, Mayweather After UFC 276

Israel Adesanya is well aware of the criticism aimed in his direction following his latest title defense. He just doesn’t care all that much.

“The Last Stylebender” was technical and tactical — but not overly exciting — in a relatively easy unanimous decision triumph over Jared Cannonier in the UFC 276 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Adesanya did not deliver the violence he promised in the lead-up to the bout, and his latest effort led to some fans filing out of the venue in the middle of his fight. Others who stuck around booed the contest, which was controlled by Adesanya with rangy straight punches and kicks to various levels.

The City Kickboxing standout has seen this story before with other high-level champions in MMA and boxing, and he now finds common ground with some of those all-time greats. It can be difficult to keep the fans happy and keep winning at the same time.

“F—k them. Nah, they’ve been here since 3 p.m. They’re all drunk. They don’t know what real fighting is,” Adesanya said of the fans unrest at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I’ve said this: The greats, they all get to this point. I’ve seen it when I was just a fan. I’m still a fan. Anderson Silva, [Georges St. Pierre], I remember fights where I’d be like, ‘That was a f—-ing fantastic fight,’ and the same thing. People would just boo them. GSP, one of the f—-ing GOATs, and people would just boo him. I’m like, ‘What the f—k are you guys watching? You dumb f—s.’

“[Muhammad] Ali, Floyd Mayweather, it’s the same thing. You’re so great, people just want to see you fall. They just want to see you fall no matter what. If it’s not a show-out, spectacular performance, it’s like, ‘Ah, he’s not even that good.’ Jared knows I’m a good fighter. He knows I’m a great fighter, and I gave him the same credit, as well.”

That said, Adesanya admitted that he wasn’t in peak form on Saturday night, which according to him, makes a clear-cut victory against a top middleweight contender all the more impressive.

“I’ve said this before in the past: On my worst day, I can kill the best man,” Adesanya said. “I call that suicide, on my worst day. I had an off night tonight. [Trainer Eugene Bareman]] told me, ‘The people who really know you — teammates, family — they know you had an off night.’ And still, I still f—-d him up.”

While Cannonier often appeared mesmerized by his opponent’s combination of rangy attacks, counters and feints, Adesanya credited him for making the fight more difficult than expected.

“I couldn’t find my power shots, my kicks,” Adesanya said. “The initiators – the jabs and leg kicks – were working, but I was trying to find the power shots. He was adjusting well. It wasn’t just me vs. him. … His adjustments to what I was doing, I’d go ahead, I got to his body, I got to his legs. I got to his legs and he’d adjust and get away from my power. I was able to get away from his, as well.”

In the aftermath of his latest victory, Adesanya didn’t shy away from talk of showdown with former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira, who authored an impressive first-round knockout of Sean Strickland on Saturday night.

“That’s the next fight,” Adesanya said. “I saw his fight. It was a good fight, but Sean Strickland should have focused on his job, like I told him to. How soon? We’ll find out.

“I’m facing a guy who’s beat me in kickboxing, and now, he’s still chasing me, because he knows I‘m the king, and he wants to try and get that away from me. You guys see what happens when my back’s against the wall.”