Israel Adesanya opens up on how his fight with Nassourdine Imavov was set in motion: "Caio Borralho, he was looking for a fight as well"
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya touched upon his upcoming Nassourdine Imavov fight. Izzy also mentioned he would have indulged Caio Borralho's desire for a fight if the UFC came with that offer. 'The Last Stylebender' posted a video to his YouTube channel with an excerpt from that broader footage posted to @ChampRDS.
On being asked how the Imavov fight came about and if other names were in the mix, Adesanya said:
"I don't know. They just offered it to me, and I was like yeah, sure... That was the only name that got offered. But Caio Borralho, he was looking for a fight as well. Yeah, if they offered him, I would have been like yeah, sweet. But then he responded when I posted or announced the fight."
Adesanya added:
"I was like bro. I already told you when it's you and me, it will be for the belt. It will be for the throne. So I respect a guy who just wants to be strictly business. It's like I understand it. It's what I call Goku spirit. It's like oh you fight? How good are you? Alright bet, let's see. So yeah, I respect that. But the Imavov fight came about and yeah, we're here."
Check Israel Adesanya discussing Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho below:
Fans show concern over Israel Adesanya training footage
There is some recent sparring footage out there on Israel Adesanya leading into this Nassourdine Imavov fight, which suggests that the former champ's best days are behind him. The footage was posted to the aforementioned @ChampRDS account on X, after initially being shared to the Instagram account @tibetanmma, with Adesanya primarily working on his takedown defense.
The 35-year-old had some in the MMA community theorizing that this video footage represents the end of an era and then suggested that Adesanya, as well as Kamaru Usman and Alexander Volkanovski, retire.
Pro MMA manager Alex Davis even went as far as to say it was not fair to leak this footage of the New Zealand native. Davis mentioned how the video evidence of Israel Adesanya working on his anti-grappling was clearly from a security camera and that something like this is gold in the hands of Imavov's coaches.
With Khamzat Chimaev seemingly waiting in the wings for the winner of the Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland middleweight championship rematch, the winner of Adesanya vs. Imavov will be positioned nicely within the contender hierarchy at 185 pounds.