Anderson Silva praises Israel Adesanya and says the champion is 'unbeatable' in the middleweight division

A. Silva (left) and I. Adesanya (right) faced each other in 2019. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook ufcbrasil

Owner of the UFC middleweight division (up to 83,9 kg) for almost seven years, Anderson Silva believe that Israel adesanya, current holder of the category belt, has everything it takes to have the same success in the organization.

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Israel adesanya already has three successful defenses of the division belt and names like Robert whittaker, Yoel romero, Paulo borrachinha and himself Anderson Silva in the cartel. For Spider, there is no one on the UFC roster today capable of defeating the Nigerian at middleweight.

“Let me tell you something very important: Israel (Adesanya) is the great champion. Israel has a lot of experience in kickboxing and I don't see anyone who can defeat him or challenge him in his weight class. Probably in other divisions, but in the middleweight division I don’t think so”, analyzed Anderson.

Undefeated at middleweight, Israel adesanya suffered the only defeat in his career in March this year, when he challenged the light heavyweight champion (93 kg) Jan Blachowicz by the category title above. The Nigerian quickly recovered from the setback and defended his middleweight title against Marvin vettori in June and the tendency is for the next defense to be in a rematch against Robert whittaker, who defeated Darren till, Jared Cannonier e Kelvin Gastelum after losing the last contest against the champion.

Despite the notable evolution of Robert whittaker, Anderson Silva has full confidence in another victory for Adesanya.

“It’s a different game, but I think Israel is at its peak now. It's difficult to say, because Israel proved to everyone why it is champion in this category. It's very difficult to stay in this division fighting at a high level. I know because I was there for ten years. It’s very tough”, he concluded.