Nigeria’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) world middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya is staying defiant after his loss to Poland’s Jan Blachowicz in the light heavyweight category and he is already thinking of his next target in mixed martial arts, megasportsarena.com reports.
After failing to become only the fifth fighter in UFC history to win two different weight titles consecutively, following his loss on Saturday, ‘The Last Style Bender’ insists he is still as good as ever and believes it is just a matter of time before he pulls off his huge ambition.
This much was revealed by Yahoo Sports’ combat columnist, Kevin Iole, who revealed that the New Zealand-based Nigerian fighter is not running scared with his tail between his legs, as he still has his middleweight belt to flaunt and is ready for his next challenger.
Iole wrote in his report about Saturday’s fight in Las Vegas, USA: “There were the 20 consecutive wins, the interim title after 14 months in the UFC, the triumphant knockout victory over his arch-rival before more than 50,000 fans in a stadium he once watched fights from in the upper deck, and so much more.
“In some ways, though, this was Israel Adesanya’s finest hour. The UFC middleweight champion came up short in his bid to become just the fifth double champ in the promotion’s history when he dropped a unanimous decision to Jan Blachowicz on Saturday in their match for the light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 259 at Apex.
“But Adesanya showed his peers how it is done, even in a losing effort. Perhaps it should be said, he showed how it should be done particularly following a losing effort.
“He tried to make history and left the comfort of a weight class he reigns with an iron fist. There is no middleweight fight to make now in which he wouldn’t be a significant favorite. But he took a risk, moved up a class, and tried to capture a second title.
“He didn’t have the explosion that he normally has, though Blachowicz definitely played a role in that. He tried to lure Blachowicz into his traps that he’s caught and finished so many of his opponents before, but either Blachowicz was wise to them and didn’t bite or Adesanya wasn’t on point with his shots.”
Indeed, Blachowicz had a tight defense and did not allow Adesanya’s counter strikes to dictate the bout as they had so often in the past, following which UFC president Dana White opined that ‘size is always a factor’ and he felt it played a role in the Nigerians loss.
However, while offering no excuses, Adesanya respectfully disagreed, but admitted that Blachowicz’s defense was better than he thought and reasoned that he will bounce back better, because he has experienced defeat before.
Adesanya concluded: “I’ve lost before. I’ve lost in kickboxing. I’ve lost in boxing. I lost in life and I’ve lost in love. You don’t win all the time. I’m still here. My team’s still here. They still love me. My family loves me.”
