Israel Adesanya explains why he wants his future opponents to attempt takedowns: “I’ve got some tricks that I want to use”

By Harry Kettle - December 9, 2020

UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya wants to see some of his future opponents test the waters with some takedown attempts.

Israel Adesanya, Kevin Holland

Adesanya is riding high in the UFC right now after he was able to successfully defend his Middleweight Championship earlier this year courtesy of a picture perfect display against divisional rival Paulo Costa.

Now, as we look ahead to future for Adesanya, it appears as if he wants to try and challenge himself more so than he has done before.

“I hope they start shooting on me more cause I want to choke somebody out,” Adesanya told MMA Fighting recently. “I mean people were shooting on me at the beginning of my UFC career, and then they realized, ‘We can’t be doing that, f**k it let’s strike, oh we can’t do that [either].’”

“They should go back to shooting on me again, cause I’ve got some tricks that I want to use,” Adesanya said.

It does appear as if Adesanya is gearing up for a move to light heavyweight, but according to the 205-pound division’s current champion Jan Blachowicz, it isn’t going to be quite as easy for him as he might think.

“All my life I’m in this category so I know everything about this category. Everything is different,” Blachowicz told MMA Fighting.“Cardio is different. Timing is different. Speed is different. You can train with heavyweight guys, you can train with 205 guys but this is training. A fight is completely different.

“When guys change their category, they’ve got problems with that, problems with everything,” Blachowicz added. “Not everyone can be ready for that. We will see.”

“Maybe Adesanya will be ready for that but I don’t think so,” Blachowicz added. “If he wants to make his first fight at 205, with the champion, it’s going to be a problem for him.”

Do you think fighters should start shooting on Israel Adesanya?


Topics:

Israel Adesanya Jan Blachowicz UFC