Israel Adesanya has come under fire for his performances in recent fights, in particular a relatively uneventful five-round verdict over Jared Cannonier in his latest title defense at UFC 276 on July 2.
Dana White, who did not attend the card live, gave his first thoughts on the bout following UFC on ABC 3 this past Saturday. The UFC president didn’t place the blame entirely on Adesanya for a fight that was widely criticized throughout the MMA community.
“He won,” White said. “I mean, I don’t know if it was the performance that he wanted to give or that he was selling leading into that fight. The other thing is I don’t think his opponent was very aggressive, either. It takes two to make a great fight. …It won’t happen in the next fight.”
That next fight, of course, is expected to be against Alex Pereira, who owns a pair of victories over Adesanya in the kickboxing ring — including one by way of knockout. Pereira punched his ticket to a title shot with a first-round knockout of Sean Strickland on the same card. White has no doubt that Adesanya vs. Pereira will deliver on its considerable hype.
“When you’re sitting here in my position, you can’t give too many guarantees,” White said. “I can say, ‘Stylistically on paper this should be,’ you know, or, ‘We feel this is gonna be’ … I f—-ing guarantee you. I absolutely, positively guarantee you that the next fight that Israel Adesanya fights will be bats—t nuts.”
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