Israel Adesanya reveals the move he 'stole' from T.J. Dillashaw
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya recently became an active YouTuber, and he's taken to it rather effortlessly. His latest video is a breakdown of the upcoming bantamweight clash between T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen.
Over the course of the video, 'The Last Stylebender' analyzes various aspects of both Dillashaw and Sanhagen's fighting styles, their strengths, and their keys to victory. While talking about T.J. Dillashaw's movement, Israel Adesanya highlighted T.J. Dillashaw's wrestling prowess and his ability to take the fight to the ground.
Talking about Dillashaw's ability to drop-shift and change levels, Israel Adesanya mentioned a move he really likes. 'The Last Stylebender' went as far as to say that he has 'stolen' it from 'Lieutenant Dan' and incorporated it into his own arsenal. Adesanya said:
"He'll just like drop-shift, then scoops the legs, body lock and takes them down. It's like a weird double leg with a judo trip. I don't even know what to call it, but I know how to do it. Yeah, and I stole that from T.J."
Israel Adesanya is a fervent student of the game of mixed martial arts. He is constantly learning, evolving, and trying to better his abilities in the fight game. He previously admitted to taking inspiration from 'Suga' Sean O'Malley, copying a kick from his arsenal.
Watch Israel Adesanya's full breakdown video below:
Has Israel Adesanya ever used this technique to take his opponent down?
Naturally, it is surprising to hear Israel Adesanya talk about copying a takedown technique from T.J. Dillashaw. 'The Last Stylebender' is a striker, arguably one of the best we've ever seen in the UFC, and likes to keep the fight standing. However, one need only look at his fight against Brad Tavares at the TUF 27 finale to watch the Kiwi implement the takedown technique he says he copied from Dillashaw.
At 3:42 of the second round and 1:44 of the third round in his fight against Brad Tavares, Israel Adesanya used a similar trip to drop the Hawaiian to the canvas. These moves didn't register as official takedowns in the UFC stats, perhaps because Adesanya didn't proceed to attempt a mount. Nonetheless, the similarities between these trips and T.J. Dillashaw's trips are visible.
While this may seem unlikely coming from a striker like Adesanya, it wasn't entirely out of character. At the end of the first round in the same fight, 'Stylebender' even used a forward roll to try and trap Tavares' leg, reminiscent of an Imanari roll.
Watch the highlights from the fight below: