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Israel Adesanya Puts $3 Million on Line Before UFC 276 Title Defense

Published 06/30/2022, 6:48 AM EDT

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UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is ready to defend his title yet again. At UFC 276, fans will see him taking on Jared Cannonier. The champion looks as confident as ever. He also openly challenged his naysayers in his recent press conference.

Many have accused the fighter of relying on forbidden substances to enhance his performance in the Octagon. Hence, ‘Izzy’ put $3 million on the line and challenged anyone to get any kind of evidence that would confirm such rumors.

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Adesanya said, “They just need to find excuses to, you know, take away my greatness, and I understand this is what people are supposed to do. So I let them.”

 

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“… I will give $3 million to anyone who could ever have concrete evidence that I even know what the f*ck I’m doing with ster*ids or how to take ster*ids. I promise you, wallahi, $3 million if you can find anyone who has concrete evidence that I’ve ever even purchased, touched or done any kind of performance-enhancing dr*gs or whatever.”

Allegations of Adesanya taking help of banned substances had disturbed him post the Paulo Costa fight. This is because Adesanya was proud of his performance in that fight. He did not like that it was being taken away from him.

Considering his net worth is $4 million, Adesanya is confident about his challenge.

As per data available on the USADA website, the fighter has already been tested seven times this year.

Jon Jones and Adesanya too have been beefing. Jones once hid under the cage to get away from NSAC’s testing. It would be interesting to see if they ever face each other.

Israel Adesanya on his swollen pectoral muscle

At UFC 253, ‘The Last Stylebender’ defeated Costa and created headlines. However, one more aspect that caught people’s attention was his right pectoral muscle. It was swollen before the fight began.

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via Imago

As a result, many speculated whether the fighter was on banned substances. Adesanya addressed the concerns and said that ‘unhealthy living‘ was the reason.

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Adesanya versus Cannonier will be the main event at UFC 276. Alexander Volkanovski versus Max Holloway will be the co-main event. Further, Sean Strickland and Alex Pereira too will be seen fighting on the main card. Hence, some blockbuster fights are just around the corner.

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Watch This Story: Israel Adesanya vs Jared Cannonier: Date, Time, Venue, Tickets, and Live Stream Event

Do you think Adesanya will successfully defend his title yet again?

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Written by:

Rohini Kottu

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One take at a time

Rohini Kottu is a UFC Writer at EssentiallySports. She is also a Psychologist and has a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology. Rohini, in her role as a UFC writer, combines her admiration for the mental resilience that MMA fighters have and her love for analysis.
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Edited by:

Manaal Siddiqui