"Make it boring"- Daniel Cormier has advice for Israel Adesanya's opponents to stay "in the fight"

Israel Adesanya has received plenty of criticism from fans over his last several performances, as his fights have been labeled as 'boring'. UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier believes that a boring fight helps the middleweight champion's opponents.

Speaking to the press ahead of UFC 281, the former double champ stated:

"Generally, you're telling Izzy's opponents, as an analyst, I'm like, make it boring. When you make it boring, you're in the fight. It's that simple. Yoel Romero made it boring and he lost three rounds to two. There's never been a more clear indicator of how you should fight Israel Adesanya than Robert Whittaker between fight one and fight two."

Cormier noted that Kelvin Gastelum is the only fighter to be reckless and survive the full five rounds with Adesanya, before adding:

"You can only do so much against Adesanya. You have to be patient. You have to be okay with the crowd not really enjoying the fight because if you do too much, you end up like Rob in fight one... It's not on Izzy, it's on the opponents, and the smart opponents need to be in the boring fight against Adesanya because he's too good a counter-striker."

Adesanya will look to defend his belt for the sixth time at UFC 281, against former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira. It will be interesting to see if the No.4-ranked middleweight will be aggressive, knowing that he holds two kickboxing victories over Adesanya.

Watch Daniel Cormier's comments on facing Israel Adesanya below (starting at the 1:30 mark):

Israel Adesanya shares why he is looking forward to facing Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya will put his middleweight title on the line when he faces Alex Pereira at UFC 281. The No.2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter recently revealed why he is looking forward to facing his former kickboxing rival.

As announced on @SportsCenter, we have a 𝑴𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑽𝑬 main event set for MSG 🍎

@Stylebender vs Alex Pereira is confirmed for #UFC281!

[ Tickets on sale Friday August 26th 🎟 ] https://t.co/vY5wNDS1OX

During the UFC 281 press conference, Adesanya stated:

"I've accepted he's not like the other guys who I've fought recently. Once he feels me, he's not going to try to shy away. That's why I give a shout out to Brad Tavares 'cause until the fifth round, he was still going. I believe he's not going to shy away, he's going to come here and try to fight, which you know is what I like. I like a guy who likes to fight 'cause I love to fight."

Adesanya enters his sixth title defense looking to avenge two kickboxing losses against Pereira. His opponent, who handed Adesanya the only knockout loss of his combat sports career, will attempt to become the first middleweight to defeat the middleweight champion in mixed martial arts.

Watch Israel Adesanya's comments on facing Alex Pereira below (starting at the 12:20 mark):