The UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, took a step towards greatness when he challenged the light heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz, in the main event of UFC 259. If Adesanya had beaten the Polish Powerhouse, he would’ve joined an elite list of fighters who held belts in different weight classes.

However, Blachowicz didn’t let that happen and won the fight via a unanimous decision in a largely dominant display. The final scorecards read 49-45, 49-45, and 49-46 in favor of the Pole. A couple of judges scored the last round to be a 10-8 round for Jan, which did cause some controversy.

Meanwhile, the talking point on an episode of Ariel and The Bad Guy show were the after-effects of Adesanya’s loss. ‘The Last Stylebender’ was undefeated in MMA and the UFC till this point.

Chael Sonnen (The Bad Guy) appreciated Israel Adesanya’s daring and said, “I love what he said about dare to be great. I love that he didn’t hide his face one bit.”

“In many ways, Adesanya showed something, including what his vulnerability is. We saw this very early on in Adesanya’s career. I’m talking about the x’s and o’s, being taken down and being held there. It looked as though he solved that problem,” Sonnen added.

He also mentioned the fact that the Nigerian didn’t face this problem in his fights at middleweight. The former UFC title challenger referred to the Yoel Romero and Derek Brunson fights and reminded everyone that Adesanya successfully defended the takedowns and always got back up.

Sonnen claimed that Adesanya had some great moments, but revealed that he had a lot of praise for Blachowicz following UFC 259.

Read More: “Case by Case”- Israel Adesanya Reveals Impact of Father During Fights

Ariel Helwani respects the courage of Israel Adesanya

Ariel Helwani, the other host of the show, also showed his respect for ‘The Last Stylebender’. “It was a great performance against a bigger guy. In the end, Jan had an amazing gameplan. He took him down to the ground, and he did his thing in the fourth and the fifth rounds,” Helwani said.

He referred to B. J. Penn’s spectacular comeback after a similar attempt to move up a division to fight for the belt and said that Adesanya would come back stronger.

“I don’t view Israel Adesanya any differently than I did exactly one week ago… He’s still the best middleweight. He’s one of the all-time best middleweights already,” Helwani added.

He showed his respect for Adesanya again and appreciated him for trying something new out. It was a lot of deserved praise for Adesanya, who will love the positive feedback. He has been immense for the UFC and is a great fighter. Even though he lost his undefeated streak, expect him to come back and demolish another opponent.

Do you think Israel Adesanya vs. Jon Jones will ever happen?