I. Adesanya remains undefeated after 15 fights. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook UFC
Israel adesanya will face the biggest challenge of his career in the co-main event of UFC 234, on February 9, 2019. The Ultimate revelation will face the veteran and former middleweight champion Anderson Silva. The venue for the meeting will be the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. A win could put 'The Last Stylebender' in contention for the division title. Even so, the Nigerian fighter assured that facing 'Spider' is worth more than a belt for him.
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“I'll tell you right now: this means more to me than f***ing world title. That means the world to me. UFC 90 was when I watched my first fight live, and now I get to face the guy I watched for so long. It's like Lebron James could face Michael Jordan, you know? This fight means more to me than any shiny belt. The benefit of this fight for me? It's not even ranked. I'm accepting a fight with a guy who isn't ranked in the middleweight division, so I might lose my spot, but fuck the rankings at the end of the day, because he's still the Anderson Silva whether you like it or not”, said Adesanya in an interview with the North American program The MMA Hour.
The Nigerian fighter based in New Zealand said he created his fighting style by watching Anderson fight at the height of his career. Therefore, 'The Last Stylebender' is considered the clone of the former middleweight champion. On his social networks, Adesanya even jokes about the subject by posting images of 'Venom' who is the villain of 'Spider' in the comics and films.
“I'm a guy who started modeling my style after his, because he's a skinny black guy like me and I looked up to him. So I thought, 'If you want to face your clone, you can face me.' But I'm better than your clone, because I studied every little thing you ever did and every f***ing move you made. I know when he's going to relax, I know when he's going to attack, I know when he's on the offensive, I know when he wants to blitz. I would feel it. I know this man better than he knows himself. I know some things about him that he doesn't know about himself, because I'm looking from the outside,' Israel said.
At 29 years old, Adesanya remains undefeated after 15 fights in his professional MMA career. In his last fight, the Nigerian knocked out Derek Brunson at UFC 230, November 03rd.
Anderson Silva is back in Ultimate after serving a one-year doping suspension imposed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). At 43 years old, the Brazilian has 43 fights, 34 victories, eight setbacks and one unsuccessful fight in his professional MMA career.
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