Israel Adesanya is open to fighting at light heavyweight again.
Adesanya fought at 205lbs in the main event of UFC 259 against Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title. In the lead-up to the fight, many expected ‘The Last Stylebender’ to win but the size played a big role as Blachowicz won by decision.
What Did Israel Adesanya Say About Moving Up?
After the fight, many were uncertain if Adesanya would fight at 205lbs again but in the lead-up to his UFC 281 title defense, he is interested in going up in weight again.
“I’ll lap the division again, and then I’ll go back up at some point just for my own – maybe a little bit of ego, but yeah, just because I can do it,” Adesanya said at media day (h/t MMAJunkie).
However, even though Israel Adesanya is open to moving up to 205lbs, he says it doesn’t even have to be for the belt. He doesn’t want to fight Jiri Prochazka as they share the same management, so for him, he just wants to prove he wants to win at light heavyweight.
“It doesn’t have to be for the belt,” Adesanya added. “Right now, other Paradigm (Sports) guy Jiri’s (Prochazka) got the belt, so let him do his thing. I just like testing myself. Again, there’s heavyweight. I’m not saying I can beat every 205 guy or every f*cking heavyweight, but they’ll have problems with me. And yeah, there’ll be times when Eugene (Bareman) might say, ‘Take that guy out.’ And I’m like, ‘Who? What? All right, bet.’ And I’ll take them out.”
Israel Adesanya, as mentioned, is set to defend his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 281 against Alex Pereira. He’s already 2-0 this year with decision wins over Jared Cannonier and Robert Whittaker. In his UFC career, he has notable wins over Anderson Silva, Derek Brunson, Kelvin Gastelum, and Paulo Costa.
