"She can take me down" - Israel Adesanya talks about Kayla Harrison's wrestling skills and how she'd fare against him
Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker recently broke down all of the prelim fights on the historic UFC 300 card, and they went in-depth on Kayla Harrison and her prospects heading into her UFC debut against Holly Holm.
Harrison, who previously competed under the PFL banner, signed with the UFC, and will take on 'The Preacher's Daughter' at UFC 300. An Olympic medal-winning Judoka, Harrison is known for her oppresive grappling game.
Speaking on her chances against Holm, Israel Adesanya was complementary of the Judoka. He spoke highly of her grappling, saying:
"She can take me down."
This was in reference to some comments Harrison had made earlier, where she proclaimed that even Adesanya couldn't stop her takedowns. Israel Adesanya went on to add:
"Look, Kayla, that's fair, she's a judo olympian gold medalist or whatever, I probably couldn't stop some of her takedowns...I don't know, but we'll see, she might take her (Holly Holm) down, she's really good at takedowns, we know that. We know she can take men down too."
Check out Israel Adesanya's comments here (4:30):
They also noted that the fight bears a resemblance to Holm's legendary win over Ronda Rousey in 2015. 'Rowdy' was a dominant champion at the time and a grappler much like Harrison.
Holm, however, managed to keep her at distance and land shots while evading takedowns, eventually securing a stunning head kick knockout that shocked the MMA world.
Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker break down Aljamain Sterling vs. Calvin Kattar
Another fight the duo from City Kickboxing broke down was the featherweight clash between Aljamain Sterling, and Calvin Kattar. The fight will mark Sterling's first fight at 145 pounds, and is a litmus test to see where he stands at featherweight.
Speaking on the bout, Adesanya said (7:15 of the same video):
"Yeah, I think Aljamain could backpack him [Kattar], probably. But again, I know he's [Kattar] good on the feet, but [Sterling] never gets tired, that's one thing, he can wrestle, he can do everything, he can definitely backpack him."
'The Last Stylebender' went on to say that he thought Sterling's striking is "effective," but at times can appear "clunky" and advised Sterling to "stick to what you know."