Israel Adesanya has been very active in building rivalries on Twitter. While the Jon Jones tweets have gotten quite ugly, it seems the Middleweight Champion may have a new target. Adesanya was called by former champion Chris Weidman to a fight.
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Weidman pointed out that Adesanya is a bad stylistic matchup for him, bringing up Izzy’s two decision wins over Anderson Silva and Kelvin Gastelum. These are wins that Weidman has himself and ended with finishes.
Heyyy I just realized I have 2 common opponents with Adesanya…Gastelum who I finished. Then Silva who I finished twice. Adesanya squeaked by decisions on both of those guys.. Adesanya is just another Silva without the black belt in Jitsu. Easy 💴
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) October 3, 2020
Adesanya responded to Weidman’s tweet and asked him to get some wins. Weidman has just two wins in his last seven bouts, having fallen off a cliff after his win over Vitor Belfort in 2015. However, Weidman wasn’t impressed with Adesanya’s relatively rude tone, calling him two-faced, as Izzy’s interactions with him have been quite different in person.
You were very nice to my face that night to be talking like that on your phone. Two faced as hell! I would grab your weak ass and crush you! YOU remember our interactions that night and YOU know this is a problem you don’t want https://t.co/oBy2YE5iF0
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) October 3, 2020
Izzy adding a video that showed him calling his shot against Weidman before his recent success was quite odd. Considering Weidman’s stature in the sport and his relatively polite call-out, Adesanya might have been unnecessarily aggressive in his response to the former champion.
Is Israel Adesanya ducking Chris Weidman?
It is crazy to say that Izzy would duck Weidman. However, there may be some merit to it. While dismissing Weidman’s poor record is valid, no one can dispute that he would be a bad matchup. His style of pressure wrestling and competent stand up could create problems for the champion. But there really is no argument for Weidman to get a title shot with his recent history.
Chris isn’t booked for any fights. He may have to wait on the result of Jack Hermansson and Darren Till before getting a new fight. Hermansson and Chris were booked against each other, but that card was canceled due to COVID-19.
Weidman is basically 2-3 contender wins away from a title shot. This is by nature of his credentials as the man that dethroned Anderson Silva. That win will always keep him relevant. While obviously, Izzy would be a massive favorite against Weidman, that is exactly what Weidman would want. It wasn’t long ago he stood across the cage from a similarly feared MW and shocked the world with his performance.