Latest news with #Adesanya
USA Today
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Israel Adesanya thinks Jon Jones is 'rage-baiting,' will fight again in the UFC
Israel Adesanya is convinced that Jon Jones will come out of retirement. Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) relinquished his UFC heavyweight title and called it a career. As a result, Tom Aspinall was promoted from interim to undisputed champion. Adesanya isn't buying Jones' retirement. He thinks the all-time great will eventually come back, and only walked away because of the current legal issues he's going through, where he's alleged to have been involved in a hit-and-run situation February in Albuquerque. "I think he'll come back," Adesanya said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "It's just the drama of it. ... What do they call it now? The kids call it rage-baiting. It's working. I don't agree with the fact of holding up the division. Tom defended the belt. That's a defense on his book. Let the division keep moving, and now it moves forward. Now this whole thing comes out because it happened in February or whatever. F*cking that's why he retired. "I think he'll go through this and then, again, he'll come back. I think he'll fight Tom. It's just too much money. They offered him what, $20 (million or) $30 million, I heard. Yeah, I think he'll come back. It'll even be bigger by the time he comes back because Tom would have had like two fights or three fights and then built up his own legacy, as well." Adesanya wasn't ready to say Aspinall is the guy to beat Jones, but dubs the Brit as legit as advertised. "I think Tom definitely is the guy," Adesanya said. "I've sat next to Tom and his father, and people say this about me on TV, 'Oh, you're so much bigger in person.' Tom is a huge dude, and the speed. It's the speed for me. For a heavyweight, I don't understand. I asked him about it, and he's like, 'I think fast.' I understand what he means neurologically. I do that, as well. When you're working, no matter how tired you are, you're still trying to give 100 percent in that moment on the Airdyne (bike) or whatever, just so your neurons are firing or wiring with that thing in mind."
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Israel Adesanya: Charles Oliveira 'gets touched too much,' Ilia Topuria knocks him out
Israel Adesanya is concerned with Charles Oliveira's striking defense against Ilia Topuria. Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) meets Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) for the vacant lightweight title in Saturday's UFC 317 main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Oliveira has been knocked down in his title fights against Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje before rallying to get the finish. Adesanya isn't sure "Do Bronx" survives the power of Topuria, who's coming off back-to-back knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. "To beat two of the greatest featherweights of all time, back-to-back, it's hard to doubt a guy like that again," Adesanya said of Topuria on his YouTube channel. "(Oliveira) gets caught too much for my liking, that's the thing. If he wants to go forward straight away, he's going to get caught. I just see Ilia as too sharp with the hands, man. He's too sharp with the hands." Adesanya would like to see Oliveira mix in his grappling to help open up his striking. "Charles needs to feint or just find a way to cause doubt in Ilia's mind, and also good footwork, because I don't think he's going to be moving forward for long," Adesanya said. "He's going to have to move backwards, and when that happens, he has to use good footwork to get back to the center, and then attack from there. "(He needs to) shoot sometimes and then break away. Find a way to disengage, but just get that in his mind. I don't want to doubt Charles because he's illuminated by a great power, and he's just proven himself over and over again. ... Let's see what the grappling is about. Test it, because no one's tested Topuria's grappling quite well yet." The former UFC middleweight champion ultimately picked Topuria to win. "In this fight, I'm going to go Ilia Topuria, and I'm going to go by knockout," Adesanya said. "I don't know what round, but for me it's just because Charles, he gets touched too much for my liking. I just think Ilia will find the shot, I think pretty early if Charles decides to just be aggressive like he says and push forward. And then if he gets hurt, Ilia will find that shot again."
RNZ News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Adesanya and Gastelum fight inducted into UFC Hall of Fame
Israel Adesanya (right) fights Kelvin Gastelum Photo: Photosport Israel Adesanya's middleweight war with Kelvin Gastelum has been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. The barnburner went down in 2019 at UFC 236 with the interim title on the line, Adesanya eventually prevailing by decision following a dominant final five minutes. The Last Stylebender saw his star ascend to greater heights after muttering to himself, 'I'm prepared to die,' ahead of the fifth round of the brutal battle. Named Fight of the Year in 2019, the middleweight classic has now been officially recognised as one of the best in the promotions history, inducted into the fight wing of the UFC's Hall of Fame. Speaking at the ceremony in Las Vegas as part of UFC international Fight Week, which will see Adesanya's City Kick Boxing team-mate Kai Kara-France challenge for the flyweight strap, the Nigerian-born Kiwi said it was an honour. "It's not really hit yet, but it feels good just to be acknowledged for that fight. It was one of the greatest fights in the UFC in combat sports and human history. I like the fact that I get to do with Kel because it takes two to tango." Adesanya said the fight was 'movie type s***.' "He just brought the best out of me. That was one of the most top three important moments in my life, not just in fighting, in my career, in my life, because it brought the best out of me as a man and I found the levels that you can find." Though it's been a lean run of late for the former middleweight king, losing his past three fights in the UFC, Adesanya said the Gastelum fight will always define his career. "It's never going to be something that anyone can take away from both of us. That's cemented forever. Legacy." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Israel Adesanya ‘not a real fighter', says Joaquin Buckley after detailing run-in with UFC star
Joaquin Buckley has accused Israel Adesanya of not being a 'real fighter', after the UFC stars offered their respective accounts on a run-in between them. After Buckley suffered a one-sided decision loss to Kamaru Usman on Saturday (14 June), the latter's friend Adesanya hit out at Buckley, saying on his YouTube channel: 'I hate [him], bro. I don't even use the word 'hate' lightly, but I hate [him], bro. Advertisement 'Something about him just f*****g annoys me. The coolest thing about him is that kick [Buckley's 2020 knockout of Impa Kasanganay]. I respect that.' Then, describing a moment in which he met Buckley at the UFC Performance Institute, the former two-time middleweight champion said: 'Literally, I'm just trying to chill, talk. [He says:] 'Hey, man, we've gotta get this going, duh duh duh duh duh duh,' like he's rapping. 'Every single time. He's just so f*****g annoying. At one point, I literally walked away while he was talking... and I think he didn't like that, so he went against me since then. But f*** the dude. Maybe I'm a hater, bro, maybe I'm just a hater.' Welterweight Buckley then used his own YouTube channel to fire back at Adesanya, saying on Thursday (19 June): 'He knows what it is to take an L, but to say that you hate a motherf***** and you're glad that they lost, you're glad that they didn't achieve their dreams is wild to me, bro. Advertisement 'Like, bro, why the f*** you mad at me? What the f*** did I do to you? I kind of find it funny that you're hating on me, you need to be hating on the motherf****** that took your belt. Jaoquin Buckley must go back to the drawing board after losing to Kamaru Usman (Getty) 'He's trying to be funny, he's trying to use his platform to talk s*** on me, but that really just shows me the potential of my name, and how big I'm becoming. Just like when I met his ass at the [Performance Institute], and I ran up on him and was like, 'Hey, bro, I think we'd be a good-ass fight, [Adesanya] was quiet at the time. 'But see, I'm man enough to come up to your face. Tell me how you feel to my face, bro [...] You're all underneath the covers like: 'Man, I hate that [guy].' You ain't no real fighter. You want to be a little pretty boy.' Advertisement American Buckley, 31, appeared to be closing in on a welterweight title shot before his loss to Usman, a former champion in the division. Meanwhile, Adesanya, 35, finds himself in the unusual position of riding a three-fight losing streak. After regaining the middleweight title from old rival Alex Pereira in April 2023, the 'Last Stylebender' lost the belt to Sean Strickland that September. Then, last August, Adesanya suffered a submission loss to Strickland's successor Dricus Du Plessis. The Nigerian-born New Zealander attempted to bounce back against Nassourdine Imavov in February, but he was stopped in round two. Israel Adesanya (right) during his 2024 loss to Dricus Du Plessis (Getty Images) Adesanya's first reign with the belt lasted three years and featured five successful title defences, with those same numbers applying to Usman's welterweight title run. Advertisement After surviving a difficult fifth round to outpoint Buckley, Usman, who had employed his trademark wrestling impressively in the first four frames, held back tears in the cage. 'It's been a while,' he said. 'I needed to get that monkey off my back. I know I'm still able to do this at the highest level. Sometimes when you're going up against a young, hungry guy like that – very talented, very aggressive – you've got to pull out the skills and use the experience. 'Before I go, I just wanted to say that I have a lot of emotions coming into this one [...] a lot of things that I had to battle back from. I'm holding back all the emotions. Unfortunately, my daughter can't be here with me tonight. That's another long story. But man, I just want to say thank you to everybody – thank you to my family, my coaches who kept me going, Buckley for bringing the challenge.'
The Independent
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Israel Adesanya ‘not a real fighter', says Joaquin Buckley after detailing run-in with UFC star
Joaquin Buckley has accused Israel Adesanya of not being a 'real fighter', after the UFC stars offered their respective accounts on a run-in between them. After Buckley suffered a one-sided decision loss to Kamaru Usman on Saturday (14 June), the latter's friend Adesanya hit out at Buckley, saying on his YouTube channel: 'I hate [him], bro. I don't even use the word 'hate' lightly, but I hate [him], bro. 'Something about him just f*****g annoys me. The coolest thing about him is that kick [Buckley's 2020 knockout of Impa Kasanganay]. I respect that.' Then, describing a moment in which he met Buckley at the UFC Performance Institute, the former two-time middleweight champion said: 'Literally, I'm just trying to chill, talk. [He says:] 'Hey, man, we've gotta get this going, duh duh duh duh duh duh,' like he's rapping. 'Every single time. He's just so f*****g annoying. At one point, I literally walked away while he was talking... and I think he didn't like that, so he went against me since then. But f*** the dude. Maybe I'm a hater, bro, maybe I'm just a hater.' Welterweight Buckley then used his own YouTube channel to fire back at Adesanya, saying on Thursday (19 June): 'He knows what it is to take an L, but to say that you hate a motherf***** and you're glad that they lost, you're glad that they didn't achieve their dreams is wild to me, bro. 'Like, bro, why the f*** you mad at me? What the f*** did I do to you? I kind of find it funny that you're hating on me, you need to be hating on the motherf****** that took your belt. 'He's trying to be funny, he's trying to use his platform to talk s*** on me, but that really just shows me the potential of my name, and how big I'm becoming. Just like when I met his ass at the [Performance Institute], and I ran up on him and was like, 'Hey, bro, I think we'd be a good-ass fight, [Adesanya] was quiet at the time. 'But see, I'm man enough to come up to your face. Tell me how you feel to my face, bro [...] You're all underneath the covers like: 'Man, I hate that [guy].' You ain't no real fighter. You want to be a little pretty boy.' American Buckley, 31, appeared to be closing in on a welterweight title shot before his loss to Usman, a former champion in the division. Meanwhile, Adesanya, 35, finds himself in the unusual position of riding a three-fight losing streak. After regaining the middleweight title from old rival Alex Pereira in April 2023, the 'Last Stylebender' lost the belt to Sean Strickland that September. Then, last August, Adesanya suffered a submission loss to Strickland's successor Dricus Du Plessis. The Nigerian-born New Zealander attempted to bounce back against Nassourdine Imavov in February, but he was stopped in round two. Adesanya's first reign with the belt lasted three years and featured five successful title defences, with those same numbers applying to Usman's welterweight title run. After surviving a difficult fifth round to outpoint Buckley, Usman, who had employed his trademark wrestling impressively in the first four frames, held back tears in the cage. 'It's been a while,' he said. 'I needed to get that monkey off my back. I know I'm still able to do this at the highest level. Sometimes when you're going up against a young, hungry guy like that – very talented, very aggressive – you've got to pull out the skills and use the experience. 'Before I go, I just wanted to say that I have a lot of emotions coming into this one [...] a lot of things that I had to battle back from. I'm holding back all the emotions. Unfortunately, my daughter can't be here with me tonight. That's another long story. But man, I just want to say thank you to everybody – thank you to my family, my coaches who kept me going, Buckley for bringing the challenge.'
