"A lot of people could take notes" - Aljamain Sterling hails Israel Adesanya's "technical brilliance" and shoots down notion that he is a boring fighter
Aljamain Sterling has defended his fellow UFC champion Israel Adesanya from criticism that the latter is an unentertaining fighter.
Adesanya notched the fifth successful defense of his middleweight title against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276. However, fans were unhappy with Adesanya's performance, believing he merely coasted through the rounds.
Two days after the event, Sterling, through his YouTube channel, pushed back on the narrative that Adesanya is a "boring" fighter. Assessing 'The Last Stylebender's' recent performance, the UFC bantamweight champion said:
"For me, I can't say Izzy is boring. I think he's very, very technical. I'm not gonna say that fight was 'Fight of the Year', but it was a good technical fight that a lot of people can take notes from and learn from."
Sterling also reminded fans that Adesanya should not be faulted for utilizing his high "fight IQ" and added that title fights are too high-stakes to prioritize entertainment value over winning. 'Funk Master' continued:
"You’re not going to be able to go out there and have those barnburners every single time. That’s just my personal opinion. And you guys gotta understand, it is a world title fight. There’s big consequences."
Catch Aljamain Sterling's comments in the clip below:
Israel Adesanya admits he had an "off night" at UFC 276
Israel Adesanya acknowledged that Saturday night's main event wasn't one of his best performances. Speaking to the media about his uneventful win, the Nigerian-born Kiwi admitted to having a bad night at the office:
"I've said this before in the past: On my worst day, I can kill the best man. I call that suicide, on my worst day. I had an off night tonight. Eugene [Bareman] told me, 'The people who really know you,[your] teammates, [your] family, they know you had an off night.' And still, I still f****ed him up."
Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below:
The middleweight champion explained that he couldn't find his power shots throughout the fight. According to Adesanya, that could also be credited to the adjustments made mid-fight by Jared Cannonier's team.
As far as Adesanya is concerned, however, him winning during his off nights is just an indication of how great he really is. 'The Last Stylender' is still undefeated in the middleweight division with a record of 23-1.