"It's hard to hate on Izzy" - Sean O'Malley lauds Israel Adesanya for being an active champion
Sean O'Malley is quite impressed by the activeness of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
'Sugar' recently discussed upcoming UFC fights on his podcast 'Bromalley'. While discussing these fights, Israel Adesanya's upcoming title defense against Jared Cannonier came up.
Sean O'Malley's co-host and brother, Daniel O'Malley stated that apparently, few people are excited about Adesanya's upcoming fight due to him being a "boring" fighter. In response, Sean O' Malley said:
"It's hard to hate on Izzy, dude. Being as active as he is, defending the belt as much as he [does]. [He] went up, tried to do that. It's hard to hate on Izzy."
True enough, Israel Adesanya has been one of the most active and consistent champions in the UFC. 'The Last Stylebender' won the title by beating Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 back in October 2019.
Since then, he has defended the title four times against the very best of the division: Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Robert Whittaker, and most recently, Marvin Vettori.
He also attempted to achieve the 'champ-champ' status by challenging Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title in March 2021. The fight ended in a unanimous decision in favour of Blachowicz, thus becoming Adesanya's first professional loss.
Jan Blachowicz in full control over Israel Adesanya to end round 5 😳
#UFC259
(via @ufc)
https://t.co/wgdWd1x1rt
Why did Sean O'Malley's brother claim that people are not excited about Israel Adesanya's fight?
As Daniel O'Malley mentioned, people have apparently started finding Israel Adesanya to be a "boring" fighter.
Various schools of thought exist on the matter, as is the case with every subject worth arguing upon. The reason why Israel Adesanya's image has shifted from that of a dynamic striker is probably due to the competition he has faced lately, and the way he has tackled it.
His first title defense took place against a powerhouse in Yoel Romero. Adesanya employed a sound strategy of keeping away and winning by points by maintaining distance the entire time. The fight saw minimal action and Adesanya received a lot of flak for the same.
“The people want to see the good fight, not like this. … You want to see running, go see Usain Bolt.”
Yoel Romero after losing to Israel Adesanya at #UFC248 https://t.co/N8jMMU5lfF
While he picked up a second-round KO victory in his defense against Paulo Costa, he defeated Marvin Vetori and Robert Whittaker via unanimous decision. Although his last two defenses went the distance, there was no dearth of activity, and the fights highlighted just how efficient and dominant a champion Israel Adesanya is.
So, while some believe that Israel Adesanya is becoming a boring fighter due to decision victories, others say that the expansion of his skillset shows a more exciting fighter each and every time.
This is further proven by consistency inside the octagon, as Sean O'Malley mentioned, and even the fights that went the distance.