Israel Adesanya asks fans to "expect darkness" in UFC 276 title fight against Jared Cannonier
Israel Adesanya has told fans what to look forward to during his upcoming matchup against Jared Cannonier in UFC 276's headlining bout. In an interview with the UFC’s Megan Olivi, Adesanya made a rather eerie prediction and asserted that fans can "expect darkness” in the fight.
‘The Last Stylebender’ spoke to Olivi regarding his fight against ‘The Killa Gorilla’ a day prior to the highly-anticipated UFC 276 showdown. In response to being asked what people can expect when they tune in to watch him fight at UFC 276, Adesanya stated:
“Darkness. Expect darkness ‘cause I’m feeling very cold, you know, going into tomorrow. And yeah, tonight, I’m going to be around my team, surrounded by love. But then when it’s time to go, that’s where I would become a fortress of battle. So, yeah, it’s go time.”
Elsewhere on the UFC 276 fight card, Sean Strickland will face kickboxing-great Alex Pereira in a pivotal middleweight bout. Pereira holds a pair of victories over Israel Adesanya in the sport of kickboxing. Furthermore, many believe that Pereira could face Adesanya in a long-awaited MMA grudge match next, although he and Adesanya must first win their respective fights at UFC 276.
Watch Adesanya address the topic at 2:18 in the video below:
Jared Cannonier is confident about going the distance with Israel Adesanya at UFC 276
Reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his title against challenger Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 tonight. Leading up to UFC 276, Cannonier recently appeared on an episode of The DC Check-In, hosted by former double-champ Daniel Cormier.
Many in the MMA community have maintained that Jared Cannonier’s best shot at beating ‘The Last Stylebender’ is to finish him early in the fight. They claim that the longer the fight goes, the more it will favor Israel Adesanya. Cormier pointed out the same, asking for Cannonier’s opinion about it.
Cannonier replied by suggesting that he’s more than capable of beating Adesanya, be it early or late in the fight. The fearsome KO artist compared his fight with Adesanya to fights in the action-fantasy anime Dragon Ball Z. On that note, the 38-year-old emphasized that he intends to enter the octagon with “big energy.”
Cannonier said:
“I think it goes, I mean, that’s one side of the same coin. The longer it goes, I can get more comfortable in there, and I can find my range and start landing some shots and put him away. Same thing goes with him. He has that level of experience and skill as well. It’s really hard.”
Watch Cannonier’s conversation with Cormier in the video below: