"I made stone bleed" - When Israel Adesanya channeled his inner Muhammad Ali after knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC 287
In April this year, Israel Adesanya had a weight lifted off his shoulders at UFC 287 as he finally defeated his longtime rival Alex Pereira to regain the middleweight championship.
Following his post-fight press conference, 'The Last Stylebender' was elated to get the win after two defeats in kickboxing and a TKO loss in MMA. He was thankful to be in the position that he was currently in and to become the middleweight champion once again:
"New again, thank you. Thank you. Mashallah."
Israel Adesanya channeled his inner Muhammad Ali and proceeded to recite some of the boxing legend's famous quotes. He mentioned that his win shook up the world, which was also in reference to his incredible knockout win, as he stated:
"Ahhh! Rumble, young man, rumble. I shook up the world! I made stone bleed! Tussle with a whale, handcuff lightning, throw thunder in jail!"
During his career, Ali had a massive impact both in and outside the ring and was widely regarded as one of the greatest trash talkers in the sport. It will be interesting to see what Israel Adesanya has in store for his next bout as he's scheduled to defend his middleweight championship against Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
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Israel Adesanya's coach claims that Dricus du Plessis might not receive a title fight when he returns
The animosity between Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis is well documented and the middleweight champion's coach Eugene Bareman recently claimed that a fight isn't likely to take place when the South African returns to action.
While speaking to Submission Radio, the City Kickboxing coach noted the division moves on and du Plessis receiving a title shot isn't necessarily a lock. He mentioned that 'Stillknocks' had an opportunity to challenge 'Izzy' for the title, following his impressive win over former champion Robert Whittaker. However, he wasn't able to make the quick turnaround and lost his title opportunity to Sean Strickland instead.
Bareman said:
"If you don't step up and take fights, you go into the pool...Nothing in this sport is solid until there's something signed on the dotted line. If he's got nothing signed on the dotted line, then he's out there in the ether." [19:41 - 19:54]