Dana White gives fans his "guarantee" that Israel Adesanya's next outing will not be boring
UFC president Dana White has weighed in on Israel Adesanya’s upcoming fight, which is likely to be a matchup against Alex Pereira. White has promised fans that Adesanya’s next fight will most definitely not be boring.
Certain sections of the MMA community have criticized Adesanya for purportedly playing it safe and not putting on exciting performances in his recent fights. Adesanya beat Jared Cannonier on the judges’ scorecards at UFC 276 on July 2nd. This fight marked yet another successful, albeit uneventful, UFC middleweight title defense for ‘The Last Stylebender'.
During tonight’s UFC Long Island post-fight press conference, Dana White was asked about ‘Izzy’s performance against Cannonier. White responded by stating:
“He won. I mean, I don’t know if it was the performance that he wanted to give, or that he was selling leading into that fight. And the other thing is, I don’t think his opponent was very aggressive either. So, it takes two to make a great fight.”
Following this, White was asked whether Israel Adesanya is entering the ‘Anderson Silva’ phase of his career—Silva’s opponents too were apprehensive of being aggressive against him when he was in his prime. White replied by subtly referencing Adesanya’s upcoming fight against Alex Pereira and said:
“Yeah, it’s interesting. It won’t happen in the next fight. When you’re sitting here in my position, you can’t give too many guarantees... I absolutely, positively guarantee you that the next fight that Israel Adesanya fights will be absolutely bats**t nuts.”
Watch White discuss the topic at 2:23 in the video below:
Israel Adesanya claims that the UFC has “got a date” for his potential fight against Alex Pereira
Reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defeated Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision at UFC 276, while Alex Pereira bested Sean Strickland via first-round KO on the same fight card. Both Adesanya and Pereira called each other out after their respective fights.
Additionally, UFC president Dana White and the UFC have also suggested that Adesanya will defend his title against Pereira next. Nevertheless, the fight hasn’t been officially announced yet.
Pereira has beaten Adesanya twice in the sport of kickboxing: via unanimous decision in 2016 and via third-round KO in 2017. Adesanya, for his part, has vowed to beat ‘Poatan’ when they clash inside the octagon.
Furthermore, in a recent video posted to his ‘FREESTYLEBENDER’ YouTube channel, Adesanya claimed that he and the UFC are already zeroing in on a date for his fight against Pereira. Adesanya said:
"When do I want it? We've got a date. We've already started out. This is, like, we're already planning. We're sussed with it."
Watch Adesanya’s video below: