"Even happened to Jon Jones at one point" - Israel Adesanya says fans hoping to see him fail is a sign of his greatness
Israel Adesanya senses a pattern in the career trajectory of some of the greatest combat sports athletes when it comes to the expectations and scrutiny of fight fans. Addressing the idea that fans are rooting for Alex Pereira to knock him out, Adesanya pointed out that Jon Jones once went down the same path.
At UFC 276 earlier this year, Israel Adesanya made the fifth successful defense of his middleweight title against Jared Cannonier. However, 'The Last Stylebender's performance, a somewhat lackluster affair, was subsequently met with harsh criticism. Adesanya paid no heed and claimed that fans don't know what "real fighting" is.
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Israel Adesanya is unfazed by the boos. 👀 #UFC267
Source, MMA Junkie: mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/07/ufc-27… https://t.co/NL4YA4bHoR
Speaking to TMZ Sports ahead of his highly anticipated clash against kickboxing adversary Alex Pereira this weekend at UFC 281, Israel Adesanya addressed certain sections of the MMA community rooting against him:
"It's 'cause you're great. It happened to Anderson Silva, it happened to GSP, it even happened to Jon Jones at one point. When you're as great as I am, you're on top for so long, they want to shake the snow globe a little bit. They want to see, 'What if he loses? What's going to happen."
Adesanya further added that fans expected him to be crestfallen following his loss against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259:
"I did lose in the Jan fight and I didn't give them the reaction they wanted. But I was like, 'Yep. Cool. What's next?'"
Watch the full interview below:
Israel Adesanya wants to make upcoming fight against Alex Pereira a "horror movie"
Israel Adesanya loves to craft a narrative and uses it as a method to approach his fights. However, the upcoming fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 is special owing to the fact that 'Poatan' holds two victories over Adesanya in kickboxing.
With just three fights under the UFC banner, Pereira has landed the opportunity to fight for the title. A case can be made that the UFC helped fast-track his career since Adesanya has pretty much wiped out the top tier of the middleweight division.
Speaking in the same interview on his strategy for his upcoming fight, Israel Adesanya said:
"I want to make this a horror movie. I want to be the first person he sees when he wakes up. I want to make sure I'm right in his line of sight so he's looking at me."