Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya earned the sweetest victory of his career against Alex Pereira at UFC 286. Adesanya knocked out Pereira in phenomenal fashion to reclaim his middleweight title and finally get his hand raised against ‘Poatan’.
Adesanya after the victory did something that received notable backlash from the MMA community. The 33-yearold during his celebration fell to the ground mimicking Pereira’s son’s previous actions. “I was just like, ‘Where is he? I’m going to find him,’” Adesanya said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel. “And I see his kid then his sister, I think, was holding them. She was holding them because they were crying. So I was just like, bang! He’s only a kid!’ I’m like, ‘And the f— what?’ If I had a son and he came to the cage after 287 and then start to do that next to Pereira, I’d be like, ‘What the f— are you doing? Come here. Apologize — apologize to that man.’”
He continued “Guy knocked me out in his home country and then you see your kid doing that and you don’t have the discipline to scold him and then again before 281, you’re in your car and you’re like, ‘Look what my son did.’ If you’re not going to teach your kids manners and respect, I will. I did him a favor,” Adesanya concluded. “I did that kid a favor. Now, he has a life lesson that he can hold on to forever and just remember that. I’m glad I did it. F— them kids.”
What’s next for Israel Adesanya
Adesanya back in 2020 moved up a weight class to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title and suffered the first lost of his MMA. After reclaiming his middleweight title at UFC 287, Adesanya assured that he will continue his career at 185lbs.
Please win. https://t.co/93bAvEe8xX
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) April 23, 2023
If that’s the case, there are various exciting match-ups for Adesanya ahead. As of now his next fight will either be against Robert Whittaker or Dricus Du Plessis. The current number 2 and number 6 ranked middleweight contenders will square off against each other at UFC 290 on July 10th and UFC president Dana White has claimed it to be a title eliminator meaning the winner will most probably be the next to challenge for the title.
Having fought and defeated Whittaker twice, it seems pretty obvious who the champion will be rooting for a new challenge in du Plessis. Referring to Adesanya, du Plessis wrote on twitter, “So you say I haven’t earned my title shot yet? Hold my beer watch this.”. Izzy was quick to respond as he hoped the South African gets his hand raised against Whittaker. “Please win”, Adesanya responded.
What are your thoughts on Adesanya’s victory and his controversial celebration? Do you think he will successfully defend his title against the next contender? Let us know in the comments.
