Israel Adesanya is undoubtedly one of the best undisputed UFC middleweight champion. The Nigerian-born fighter just made his fourth successful title defense against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271, and showed how far ahead he is of his competition. As of February 2022, Adesanya stands second in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
In a recent interview with talkSPORT, Adesanya spoke about Africa having three champions in the promotion right now. Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usman, and Adesanya himself have all defended their belts successfully. He went on to make a bold prediction in his interview.
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Adesanya said,” When the game of mixed martial arts, MMA, really grasps the hold of Africa as a continent you know. It’s gonna be over for the rest of the world for a while. And I’ve used this term before, it’s gonna be like when 50 cent dropped in the club. And then everyone else just sat down, and just, all right, it’s his time, you know. It’s gonna be our time.”
“Later on when I’m on my, I don’t know hover rocking chair, or whatever, and I’m looking at my grandkids, I’ll talk about the legend of Kamaru Usman, the legend of Francis Ngannou, you know, and myself. And how we just dominated at the same time and no one could touch us. It would be something that’s just like legendary. Just legendary forever,” he added.
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Who’s next for Israel Adesanya?
After successfully defending his title against ‘The Reaper‘ with ease, we can see how great Adesanya really is at 185 lbs. The champion has taken down the biggest threats in the division and has absolutely dominated them inside the octagon.
Jared Cannonier is the most likely fighter to face Adesanya for the title next. He bagged himself a knockout win over Derek Brunson at UFC 271, which has set him up for a shot against the champion.
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GLENDALE, ARIZONA – JUNE 12: Israel Adesanya reacts after defeating Marvin Vettori in their middleweight championship bout during the UFC 263 event at the Gila River Arena on June 12, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Adesanya said in his talkSPORT interview, “I like the guy [Cannonier]. He’s the dark horse of the division, I’ve set him up twice now to try and fight me and he fumbled. But this time, he didn’t, he’s ready to rumble.”
Do you think Jared Cannonier has what it takes to beat Israel Adesanya? Let us know in the comments section below.
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