Watch: Israel Adesanya accurately predicted how the main event of UFC 267 will go
Israel Adesanya was expecting Glover Teixeira to dethrone Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267. Not only was the Brazilian successful in doing that, he executed his gameplan exactly the way Adesanya predicted he would.
On Friday, 'The Last Stylebender' provided a breakdown of UFC 267 to his YouTube channel. While analyzing the main event showdown, Adesanya recognized Teixeira's ability to "systematically break people down" by blending his boxing skills and excellent ground game.
Breaking down the key to Teixeira's victory over Blachowicz, Israel Adesanya said:
"Something about Glover, I don't know what it is, but when I see him fight, I like his boxing. Also, Glover's top game is ridiculous. I feel like Glover should box and then wrestle, mix it up, get him guessing, eventually you might get him down or will get him down, and then from there you do what you do. I feel like Glover on the ground is gonna be superior. He systematically breaks people down. Boxes them and sometime might grab on to a single (leg takedown) or get in the clinch and then drop for a double, take them down. He just systematically breaks them down till it's over. He finishes them."
Watch Israel Adesanya's video below:
On fight night, Teixeira landed clean punches on Blachowicz before taking him down in the second frame. Well known for his Brazilian jiu-jitsu pedigree, the 42-year-old then took the Pole's back and secured a rear-naked choke finish.
Teixeira, winning the light heavyweight belt at 42, became the second oldest UFC champion in the promotion's history. The unique record currently belongs to Randy Couture, who won the heavyweight title at 43 in 2007.
When is Israel Adesanya's next fight?
Coming off a successful title defense against Marvin Vettori, Israel Adesanya is now expected to fight Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 in February next year. TSN's Aaron Bronsteter was first to confirm the news. However, the venue for the fight hasn't been announced yet.
Just spoke to Dana White who tells me that UFC 271, expected to be headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whitaker is being targeted for either Seattle or a major Canadian city on February 12, 2022.
Clarification: An error was made when Dana relayed this to me in our interview. Seattle and Canada are being looked at for an event in 2022, but not UFC 271.
Adesanya and Whittaker will be competing in a rematch. The middleweight duo previously locked horns in October 2019, where 'The Last Stylebender' convincingly defeated his Australian opponent via a second-round KO.