“Interim Titles Don’t Mean S**t!”: Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya will defend his undisputed middleweight championship for the first time in just four days. In the short span of time for which he has been part of the UFC, he has beaten some of the best fighters to reach the top.

The Last Stylebender recently featured on the Ariel Helwani Show, where he spoke about his conquest of the Interim and Undisputed UFC Middleweight Championships. Even though this will be his first title defense as the Undisputed Middleweight Champion, Adesanya believes it will be his second. He said,

“If you look on my belt, it’s got one ruby that says April 11, Atlanta and then the next ruby is, October 3, I think, in Melbourne. It’s the exact same belt I got when I won my “interim title”! The exact same belt! I thought they were gonna give me a new belt that’s the ‘Undisputed Title’. But no, they just put a ruby on it. Think about it logically. Interim titles don’t mean sh*t if that’s the rule.”

Well, Adesanya does have a point. What’s the point of having the same belt for two different titles? Yet, this is not the only reason he gave for his upcoming title defense to be his second.

“Atlanta felt like I won the belt. Melbourne, I defended the belt.”: Israel Adesanya

According to Adesanya, he did all the work in his division while the previous champion was out sick. He said,

“I was the one who was actually running the division while the former champ was, you know, sick, and couldn’t show up to work. I told you guys I was champion. So I won the belt, and it felt like I won the belt. You can see the fight, back-and-forth. And I raised my hand and I was like ‘I won the belt’. Melbourne, it was like, ‘I told you’.”

The “championship” fight that Adesanya referred to really did feel like the championship fight. One of the highest contenders for “fight of the year”, Kelvin Gastelum and Adesanya went toe-to-toe for the entirety of the bout, at the end of which Adesanya emerged victorious via unanimous decision.

Meanwhile, the title unification fight with Robert Whittaker ended in the second round itself with Adesanya knocking the lights out of the former champion.

Ever since then, Adesanya has vowed to never let the division turn stale due to a lazy Champion. He went on record to say that he will defend his title honorably and spontaneously, maybe even set a new record.

Well, “Soldier of God” Yoel Romero will ensure that the task at hand for Adesanya is a mammoth one. Romero is one of the most dangerous fighters on the UFC roster at present, and Adesanya aims to put a victory against him right on top of his mantel.

Do you think Israel Adesanya will be successful in defending his title for the “second” time?

Also read: The Lesser Known Journey of Israel Adesanya Before UFC