Nigeria’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title holder, Israel Adesanya (The Style Bender) has come under verbal attack and social media flak, following his unconvincing victory over Yoel Romero of Cuba in his first title defence, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although the fight had been heralded by lots of excitement, there had all along also been a huge tinge of controversy over comments made by Adesanya during a build-up interview, as well as speculation that he was suffering from a skin infection that could have scuttled the night all together, but it all ended up in an anti-climax of sort.
So it was that a major talking point in Las Vagas, USA and beyond was that the fight did not live up to its billing, even as Adesanya eventually held firm to his belt with a unanimous points decision, after his first title defence in God’s Own Country and the Nigerian-born slugger, who fights out of New Zealand, already has his eyes on his next opponent later in the year.
Yahoo Sports writer, Ryan Young noted in his report: “Fans were excited on Saturday night ahead of Israel Adesanya’s bout with Yoel Romero at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, especially after seeing arguably the greatest women’s fight in UFC history right before it at UFC 248.
“Yet in the end, many were left disappointed. Adesanya beat Romero by unanimous decision to retain his middleweight title, though the two were met with plenty of boos in the arena throughout the night. There were plenty of jokes to be made after the tremendously slow start. Those jokes, though, turned to frustration fast when very little happened through the first several rounds.”
One of the caustic comments of social media was from Pat Forde, who posted: “I do not like UFC but just watched the first round of a bout that was so completely devoid of action that it might as well have been a trip to library. This is the worst sporting event I have ever watched.”
Yahoo Sports Combat columnist, Kevin Iole noted: “Crowd HATES this fight. Many turned on the flashlight on their phones and held them up. They booed loudly at the end. Neither guy getting hands untracked. I gave it to Adesanya, 10-9, but neither was great honestly. I have Izzy 29-28 after three.”
Iole added: “The enduring memory of the middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero will be the long and loud booing from the crowd. Neither man made much of an effort to engage and the result was irate fans and little action.
“Adesanya won a unanimous decision by scores of 48-47 twice and 49-46. Yahoo Sports had it 48-47 for Adesanya. It was difficult to understand the fighters’ strategy, particularly Romero’s. When the bout began, Romero went to the center of the ring with his guard high and stood there for 30 or 40 seconds without moving. It was a harbinger of things to come.
“Adesanya moved and poked and threw kicks that were largely ineffective. Romero didn’t do much of anything but afterward was screaming as if he’d been robbed. It was a horrible fight that did nothing to enhance Adesanya’s stature, but Romero’s rant post-fight in the cage with Joe Rogan was bizarre. Adesanya clearly did more than Romero, who fought in spurts and usually only threw one punch at a time.
“Romero put more energy, seemingly, into his post-fight interview when he said “The people pay. For what? Not to see running.” But both men were to blame for the slow pace and lack of action. Adesanya clearly was concerned about Romero’s power, but Romero did nothing to force the issue, following the champion around the ring without throwing.
“At one point, many in the crowd turned on the flashlights on their phones and held them up in protest. At another point, they chanted, “Boring! Boring!” Mostly, they booed. Neither fighter did much as the fight was going on to give them a reason to cheer, and Romero lost for inactivity as much as for anything Adesanya did.
“Adesanya will fight Paulo Costa next, but even when Adesanya was going at Costa, who was ringside, in his Octagon interview, the fans weren’t buying it. Adesanya had been one of the sport’s rising stars, but he’s going to need to do work to rebuild his image after this one.”
