"You can't cancel anyone" - Israel Adesanya gives his opinion on Andrew Tate

Israel Adesanya is set to defend his middleweight belt at UFC 281. The No.2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter recently shared his thoughts on controversial American-British internet personality and former kickboxer Andrew Tate.

During his media day appearance, Adesanya shared that he had not heard much about Tate during his kickboxing career:

"It was just a time maybe a few months ago before he got 'cancelled.' You can't cancel anyone. He just started to pop up on my Instagram and on my YouTube... Then listening to guys like Andrew Schulz talk about the smart system he did, he paid people to post or make pages about him and flood the internet. If he created that marketing strategy that's genius."

As for how he feels about Tate now, Adesanya added:

"If he shows respect, I show respect. I take things at face value. I've never met him in my life so I have no anything with him. Some of his message I can understand people didn't like, but I've heard some of it and I feel he delivers it in a different way. I like Jordan Peterson. He gets the same message across, but without the bravado."

Tate became a source of controversy earlier this year as he was banned from nearly every major social media platform. Despite the bans, the middleweight champion doesn't believe he should be canceled.

Watch Israel Adesanya share his thoughts on Andrew Tate below (starting at the 15:40 mark):

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

Israel Adesanya's sixth title defense will come against his former kickboxing rival, Alex Pereira, at UFC 281. Leading up to the fight, Adesanya shared that is looking forward to sharing the octagon with Pereira.

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 pre-fight press conference, the No.2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter 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 UFC 281 looking to avenge two kickboxing losses to Pereira, including the only knockout of his combat sports career. 'Poatan', on the other hand, will be looking to continue his success against Adesanya by handing him his first mixed martial arts loss at middleweight.

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