"This time don’t play with your food" - Fans beg Israel Adesanya not to make Alex Pereira fight a "snooze fest"
The UFC finally announced the much-awaited trilogy between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira on Friday. The fight will headline the UFC 281 card set to go down at Madison Square Garden in November.
If the fight lives up to the decorated history the two share from their kickboxing days, it should be a barnburner at the very least. However, fans are seemingly fearing a lack of action in Adesanya's performance once again. They took to Twitter after the fight announcement and requested 'The Last Stylebender' to deliver on his promise of a banger.
Here are some of the fan tweets below:
@stylebender This time don’t play with your food. When you put him on skates again take him out. Could be next great trilogy. How he jump line, he hasn’t even faced the monsters you have.
@stylebender Not buying your ppv again…it’s too expensive for a snooze fest …you only talk big. https://t.co/0PHMlCYdQ6
@stylebender Make it have a little more action that your last one k?
- One of many fans who pay for this stuff.
@stylebender Silva had only 2 decisions during his championship run. He always brought the fight and put the belt up for grabs in that process. You’re great and have the potential to be one of the greatest ever. You seem like you’re addicted to the fame rather than focused on the game tho.
@stylebender You got to win this one (and in a spectacular way) else you're finished bruh, finished in the UFC!
@stylebender Again throwing words? We all know it will be leg kick for 5 rounds unless Alex finds a left hook. You will do nothing but leg kicking and circling around for 5 rounds.
@stylebender Bro, just fight this time, ok? That would be enough. That "kill or be killed" sound very brave, predatory, you name it, but the result is always you taking long distances, even running. Champ, this is not ballet and you know it. https://t.co/nbZIr1L0vl
@stylebender The build of this fight is very similar to the build of izzy vs Costa people calling izzy boring saying that said fighter Costa then Pereira now will make izzy fight.. in other words https://t.co/HcqvSPXwrL
@stylebender Your only chance is wearing him out. He can KO you within 2 rounds. You better step your game up champ. Don’t run like you did with Romero.
@stylebender Your entrance has become more entertaining than your fights. You used to fight to win, now you fight not to lose.
@stylebender Are you going to fight again as we are used to from you or are you going to fight points for 5 rounds? Hope to see the hungry African 🦁 again!
@stylebender “Kill or be killed”. You will then fight to a decision. This is why people hate on you. You bring it onto yourself.
Alex Pereira fight was universe's doing: Israel Adesanya
After losing twice to Alex Pereira in kickboxing, Israel Adesanya moved on from the defeat and went on to build a legacy in MMA. He revealed in an interview with ESPN SportsCenter that he never looked back at the losses and had a need to avenge them in his heart.
The opportunity to face Pereira a third time and get payback came up quite unexpectedly, with the UFC signing Pereira and bringing him up the middleweight ranks quite fast.
"Have I ever shied away from a fight? I've always picked the guy no one wants to fight, the guy everyone runs away from. I run towards, I run towards the fire. This is no different. After he beat me in Brazil, I never had any plans of trying to get revenge or anything like that, because I don't hold on to things. I let go of things. But again, I'm telling you, the universe has presented this to me, and it's right there. It's the perfect ally-oop. I'm gonna slam this b**ch," Adesanya said.
Watch the interview below:
While fans have been criticizing Adesanya for putting up "boring" fights, he has received a ton of support from several entities in the MMA community who pointed out that at the end of the day he took home the win without getting hurt and that is what matters the most. His CKB teammate Alexander Volkanovski also hit out at the critics, demanding to know why the champion has to take all the risks.
Mixed martial arts' resident analyst of all matters, Chael Sonnen, even went the distance and accused Pereira of not doing enough to sell the fight. 'Poatan' is nowhere near the charisma and entertainment quotient that Israel Adesanya brings to the table. Sonnen said that him being the champion would be quite "disastrous" for the promotion.