Former UFC champion Israel Adesanya explains his reason for letting go of all past rivalry and making amends with past rivals in the game.
The Nigerian-kiwi fighter is arguably one of the best middleweight fighters of all time and has had an incredible run in the UFC. Before his debut in MMA, Adesanya started off in kickboxing, where he faced and defeated current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Since his debut, the fighter has gone up against some tough opponents like Robert Whittaker and Alex Pereira and snagged the UFC championship before losing it to Sean Strickland.
Although the former champion is currently on a three-fight losing streak, he holds no animosity toward any of his opponents. The fighter was recently extended an offer to be Pereira’s training partner, and he is considering accepting this. He explains he would much rather have past opponents as allies rather than enemies.
“With all these guys, what’s hating Alex or hating Rob or anyone else do for me?” Adesanya said during an appearance at UFC 312. “It doesn’t serve me at all. It’s just poisoning myself. I’m holding onto hate in my heart for someone that’s moved on. So why would I do that? I’m not that kind of person. I’m just a chill guy.”
“I was even telling Alex before — like I said earlier, this is fighting, you’ve got to be a man about this,” Adesanya explained. “If you don’t fight, you’re not a man, you don’t understand, but we shot a fair one, that’s it. Cool.
“I even told Alex ‘bro, you beat me in Brazil, that was a fair one, cool. I left you alone. You chased me. So that’s your problem.’ That was his fault.”
After his recent loss to Nassourdine Imavov, many have wondered if the fighter will seek a rematch battle but “The Last Stylebender” revealed he is in no rush to get into the cage. He revealed he has no bad blood with Imavov and plans on taking some time off before planning any of his next matches.
“People ask me about the Imavov rematch. I’m like why?” Adesanya said. “There’s no need unless down the line something for the belt. Maybe he becomes champion, and I get my way there, but I don’t think I’ve got to get it back.
“That’s not how fighting works. That’s not how I see it unless it’s on some real beef personal shit but nah, you shot a fair one you beat me or I beat you, good game, we’ll move on, we’ll move forward.”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t change anything,” Adesanya said. “The chance to be able to feel these moments, regardless it’s always making history. I’m making history even when I lose. I’m grateful even to Nassourdine Imavov because we shot a fair one; he beat me. Cool, we move on. I move forward to the next one. I was grateful that I didn’t come out hurt. Grateful that my family came out to support me. I could take them somewhere like Dubai, and I could just hang out with my siblings.
“Because I think people expect you to react the way that they’d react, but they don’t understand. You haven’t done what I’ve done. So we’re not the same. I was grateful for that moment. Grateful for the week, and I’m grateful for tonight as well.”
The fighter is set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame for his epic battle with Kelvin Gastelum in 2019, and he is honored with this new development. Adesanya has a current MMA record of 24-5. For now, is ready to take a break after his consistent losses and plan out a new strategy moving forward.
