Israel Adesanya is currently enjoying his life after reclaiming his middleweight title in his last fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 287. The Last Stylebender delivered one of the greatest performances in the history of the UFC to finally knock out his arch-rival Poatan in the rematch.
https://youtu.be/L_pYS_Y78iQ
With that being said, Izzy is also waiting for his next opponent to defend his title. Adesanya has pretty much wiped out of the middleweight division and has even almost lapped his rivals. Apart from a few fighters like Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland, there aren’t many middleweights who Israel has not fought against.
As per UFC President Dana White’s recent announcement, Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis will square off against each other at UFC 290 in July. The winner of this fight will get the opportunity to challenge Izzy for the middleweight gold.
With Adesanya waiting and keeping a close eye on this matchup, he posted a tweet on his account related to the number one contender fight. The Last Stylebender asked his fans who they want to see winning between Whittaker and Du Plessis. He also promised everyone that he will deliver something special in his next fight.
đŤFace the Painâźď¸
Back in the day when you heard this trackâŚyou know shits about to get REAL!! Weâve come a looong way as a sport. Itâs been awesome to watch the growthâŚthen I jumped in the game and played my part in taking it to new levels and to millions (and millions) of new⌠pic.twitter.com/PP7WimmMsH— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) May 16, 2023
It will be extremely tough for Adesanya to produce a performance that will eclipse his knockout in his last fight against Alex Pereira. Because there was a lot of history behind that rematch with Izzy losing to Poatan on three consecutive occasions. And to make a comeback and to put Pereira to sleep in that fashion, it will take something unthinkable to do that against Du Plessis or Bobby Knuckles.
Israel Adesanya is training with Craig Jones for his next fight
Over the years, many fans and experts have claimed that Israel Adesanya has poor takedown defense. However, the middleweight champion has proved everyone wrong and is improving every single fight. The Last Stylebender showed in his fight against Poatan that he has a good ground game and can take his opponents down.
Everyone must be thinking that Adesanya will now take time off as he has to wait for at least four months for his next fight. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case as he has already begun training for his next fight. He posted a picture on Twitter with Craig Jones which indicates that Izzy is sharpening his tools and getting ready for a fight.
Striking is boring, pssshh knockoutsâŚ
I wanna choke some men unconscious.#fuckcraigjones #ManonManAction #MMA pic.twitter.com/2QorDcAIsO— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) May 11, 2023
From the caption it is pretty evident, Adesanya wants to improve his takedown skills as that is the only department where he seems to be lacking. His kickboxing skills are incredible and if he manages to take his ground game to the next level then it will be very difficult for his next opponent.