Dana White praises Israel Adesanya after TKO of Derek Brunson: ‘He’s the whole package’

By Tom Taylor - November 4, 2018

Last night, in the opening bout of the UFC 230 main card, red-hot UFC middleweight contender Israel Adesanya picked up the biggest win of his career, dissecting long-time contender Derek Brunson with some of the finest striking we’ve ever seen in the Octagon.

Israel Adesanya

With this win, just about everybody jumped aboard the Israel Adesanya hype train — and that includes UFC President Dana White. The boss showered the Nigerian New Zealander with praise shortly after the card wrapped up.

“Israel has been a guy who has been on the rise here for a minute, but I really felt like tonight was his first big test,” Dana White said (transcript via MMA Fighting). “His opponent hits like a truck and wrestles really well, and Madison Square Garden, opening the show, man, did he deliver. Many people — including me — think this kid is the future, and he went out and put a stamp on it tonight.”

While White believes Israel Adesanya is the real deal, he also hopes the young striker will take his time on the come-up.

“The minute I saw this kid, I was like, holy shit this is really good, I like this,” White said. “Then you hear him talk, I like that too. He’s the whole package. He is very ambitious, I would like him to pump the brakes a little bit. This guy wants to f*cking fight everybody right now and he wants to fight every month, which I love.”

“Listen, you want to become a big star? Keep fighting,” he added. “If you’re a young guy who’s healthy enough to fight all the time, I absolutely advise it. Do it. What you don’t want to do is put on a great performance and disappear because people forget real quickly. But yeah, I like him very, very much and I don’t want to move him as fast as he wants to be moved, so he and I will get together and find a happy medium.”

What do you think the future holds for Israel Adesanya? Is he a future UFC champion?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/2/2018.


Topics:

Dana White Israel Adesanya UFC