"I'm not going to just risk carelessly to entertain people" - Israel Adesanya gives brutally honest assessment of title defense against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya recently opened up about his recent title defense against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276.
'The Last Stylebender' recently locked horns with Jared Cannonier in what was his fifth title defense at the main event on July 2. Adesanya successfully retained his belt via a unanimous decision win over 'The Killa Gorilla'.
The fight between the two middleweight stalwarts was a highly technical affair. However, it left many fans disappointed, who claimed that the fight was uneventful.
In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel FREESTYLEBENDER, the middleweight champion discussed his latest outing with Cannonier. Adesanya admitted that his performance against 'The Killa Gorilla' could have been better. However, the Kiwi opined that he would never fight recklessly just to "entertain" people.
Expressing his thoughts on his recent fight at UFC 276, Israel Adesanya said:
"I really wanted to do what I set out to do. Like f**k everybody else. It's what I set out do... Even he said, he's going to make me easy work. How come he's getting no flak?...For me I'm like, I just know I am gonna put them away in spectacular fashion and it's just like f**k."
He added:
"It's not even about people but I hate eating my words, I'm like f**k and I said, I won the fight... I put everything I could but I could have done better but they got to give me something as well. I'm not going to just risk carelessly to entertain people or just like for what?"
You can check out Israel Adesanya's full interview with Dave Blakamoto below:
Israel Adesanya ready to take on Alex Pereira next
In the same interview, 'The Last Stylebender' was asked whether he wanted Alex Pereira as his next opponent. Responding with a yes, Adesanya even claimed that he is already in talks with the UFC to book a fight against 'Poatan'.
Discussing his potential fight against Alex Pereira, the Kiwi said:
"When do I want it? We've got a date. We've already started out. This is like, we're already planning. We're sussed with it."
Alex Pereira recently faced off against Sean Strickland in a middleweight matchup at UFC 276. 'Poatan' secured a stunning victory over Strickland via a knockout at the 2:36 mark of round one.
A potential bout between Adesanya and Pereira seems to be on the cards and will definitely be a barn burner should it come to fruition.