"The ignorance showed" - Israel Adesanya didn't deserve the fan backlash after their fight, says Jared Cannonier
Israel Adesanya fought Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 in July this year at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the middleweight title on the line. In his first title shot, Cannonier was outclassed by 'The Last Stylebender'. However, fans were not very impressed with Adesanya's performance.
During an interview ahead of his upcoming fight against Sean Strickland, 'The Killa Gorilla' defended the former champion, saying:
"Yeah everybody s**t on him and I don't think he deserves that. He did exactly what I expected him to do. Avoid the danger that I bring and lay to down his game as best that he can and I did the same thing that I always do, avoid the danger that they bring and shut down the dangers that they have and try to bring the damage to them."
He added:
"The best doesn't get hit, the best hits and not get hit and I think we did that. People saw that and the ignorance showed. Most people don't know what they're looking at. They just wanna see carnage."
Following his unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier, Israel Adesanya was criticized by fans for fighting 'boring' fights and taking them the distance. According to Cannonier, that's what happens when the best in the division meet.
Take a look at the interview below:
"Everybody sh*t on him, and I don't think he deserved that."
Jared Cannonier defends Israel Adesanya from the fan backlash stemming from their July title fight.
#UFCVegas66 | Full video: bit.ly/3j5ZJOk https://t.co/BuXRMdKJz2
Jared Cannonier believes Israel Adesanya may never be able to overcome the Alex Pereira curse
On November 12, in just his fourth fight in the UFC, Alex Pereira knocked out Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 281 to become the UFC middleweight champion. The Brazilian is now 3-0 against Adesanya in combat sports, with their previous two bouts taking place during their Glory Kickboxing days.
According to Jared Cannonier, after losing to Pereira for the third time, 'The Last Stylebender' may never be able to overcome 'Poatan':
"We see how it [the fight between Adesanya and Pereira] went the first time, right? It could be written in the stars that 'Izzy' may never beat him, you know. It could be written in the stars because I thought he was winning that fight and I think the same thing happened in their fight in kickboxing. He was scoring and winning, and he got caught... There's not much you can do to avoid that sort of thing."
'The Killa Gorilla' believes Israel Adesanya was winning the fight on the scorecards and he just had to survive for a little longer to retain his title. However, the fight played out the same way as their second kickboxing encounter, with the Brazilian displaying his one-punch knockout power and getting a late stoppage to turn the fight around.
PHOTOS: Pereira Dethrones Adesanya As UFC Middleweight Champion
Brazil's Alex Pereira pulled off an upset against Israel Adesanya with a technical knockout in the fifth round during the main event at the UFC 281 to become the new UFC middleweight champion. https://t.co/jnj8jIxnSr
Take a look at the interview uploaded by TheMacLife on YouTube: