Israel Adesanya is happy with his UFC 276 win over Jared Cannonier to defend his middleweight title.
In the lead-up to the fight, Adesanya was vocal in saying he wanted to do something spectacular and planned to finish Cannonier. He said he wanted to make the fight like Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin, but it was far from that, winning a lackluster decision in a fight where neither man threw many shots. Nonetheless”, Adesanya is happy with his performance as he says he never took his foot off the gas.
Israel Adesanya Talks About His Fight Against Jared Cannonier
“I rewatched it two days after the fight and I watched it once, that’s all I needed for now. I was just happy with the performance,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “I wasn’t ecstatic about the performance, but I was happy with it. It wasn’t what people were trying to make it out to be…”
You’re right. I’m sorry brutha. It bugs me when people criticize my work- having never themselves risked anything. It makes me a hypocrite to do exactly that to you. My bad. Keep on keeping on champ. 🙏🏻♥️
— Chris Pratt (@prattprattpratt) July 6, 2022
“I didn’t really take my foot off the gas too much,” Adesanya added. “The only time I wasn’t able to was when he held me against the fence. I broke away when I needed to and kept on fighting, as soon as I broke away. I’d normally just keep on him straight away because I know he’s tired from holding me because I could feel his squeeze just holding me… When he weakened, I got away and put pressure on him straight away, trying to create openings. I just wasn’t able to create the ones that I needed at the time. But yeah, these things happen.”
Israel Adesanya Responds to the Backlash from UFC 276
Over the last few days, Adesanya has gotten a ton of backlash for his performance after everything he said in the lead-up. Yet, for him, he makes it clear he is happy with his performance. He fought tactically and was always pushing forward.
“There was no bit in that fight where I took my foot off the gas in the sense that I’m coasting,” Adesanya concluded. “I wasn’t coasting. I was like, I’m going to keep touching him until he falls. I didn’t want to overcommit, because I knew he was going to counter me or I knew I’d leave myself in a vulnerable position, and that’s stupid. But I was right there in his face.”
