Watch: Israel Adesanya literally dozes off during Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza 2 at UFC 274
Israel Adesanya was not impressed with Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza's lackluster clash at UFC 274. In fact, the UFC middleweight champion dozed off during the bout.
In a video uploaded to Adesanya's YouTube channel, the Kiwi is seen repeatedly dozing off while watching the fight with his friends.
Watch Israel Adesanya's reaction to UFC 274 below:
The person recording the video also poked fun at 'The Last Stylebender' by asking which was the most boring championship fight of all time. This was immediately followed by a picture of Adesanya's title defense against Yoel Romero, probably only second to Namajunas vs. Esparza in terms of lackluster title fights.
In the aftermath of the Romero bout, the middleweight king came under severe criticism due to inaction. Determined to prove his doubters wrong, Adesanya followed it up with a complete decimation of Paulo Costa in his next outing.
Israel Adesanya showed Paulo Costa what a "skinny boy" can do 😤 https://t.co/9wzTHAg6Ji
Rose Namajunas claims she stuck to her strategy
Rose Namajunas faced Carla Esparza in a rematch at UFC 274 with the former's strawweight title on the line. The duo put on one of the most insipid performances in UFC title fight history, with many believing that the majority of the rounds deserved a 10-10 score. In the end, 'Cookie Monster' reeled in a split-decision win to be crowned the strawweight champion.
However, Namajunas believes she did enough to win the fight. The former champion claimed to be proud of sticking to her gameplan by avoiding wild exchanges with Esparza. Having had her fair share of slugfests inside the octagon, 'Thug' apparently chose a strategic approach this time.
The 29-year-old said at the UFC 274 post-fight presser:
“I struck to the strategy. I felt as if I landed more shots. I even took her down. None of her takedowns were significant or with any control time. I’d say she hit me with one good punch. I felt like I did the damage. I controlled the fight. I’m proud of myself because I stuck to my strategy. I know that in all of Carla’s fights she just baits people in, and she tries to get people to attack her. I’ve been in slugfests before. I’ve gotten my nose broken. I’ve stood there and shed blood in the octagon. I stuck to the strategy, and she didn’t really have any offense. She was whiffing at air the whole time. So, I thought I won.”
Watch Rose Namajunas' appearance at the UFC 274 post-fight presser below: