Not an attention seeker! Israel Adesanya will not bring his belt to championship fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 281
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Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya is used to being the champion by now! The middleweight champion barely remembers where his actual belt is ahead of UFC 281.
Safe to say middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is not obsessed with his middleweight belt. The fighter has already been a part of 8 title fights in his UFC career and has 5 middleweight title defenses. In his recent interview with Ariel Helwani, the Last Stylebender struggles to remember where he exactly kept his actual middleweight belt.
You’d think the champion would bring his prestigious UFC middleweight belt to the “Meccah of fighting” at Madison Square Garden for his fight against nemesis Alex Pereira at UFC 281, but Adesanya isn’t ready to deal with all the attention the belt brings. “It’s at the gym or at Eugene [Bareman’s] house somewhere,” Izzy nonchalantly said talking to Ariel Helwani.
The belt that we have all been seeing wrapped around Adesanya’s waist in his recent title fights has in fact been “fake” or “alternate”. Izzy says for the last four fights he hasn’t brought his original belt to the octagon from New Zealand. “It’s heavy, but also sometimes the attention it brings I don’t really [want]. Especially at airports,” said Adesanya.
Israel Adesanya says he didn't bring his title.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/TL6OQLXOqm
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 7, 2022
Read more: “Cleared the way for him” – Israel Adesanya believes Alex Pereira owes his success in MMA to him
Israel Adesanya is coming with “f**k the belt” mentality in his fight against Alex Pereira
Even in his training sessions, Izzy is not motivated by his potential 6th title defense. It is revenge that matters to the Last Stylebender. Having lost twice to Alex Pereira in kickboxing, Adesanya is determined to avenge his losses and end his rivalry once and for all in a dominant fashion. Even in one of his training videos on YouTube, the champ can be seen not focusing on the belt.
“Beating him, that’s what matters. Like, the belt? F**k the belt. Just beating him, a killer like him, that’s what matters,” said Adesanya on his YouTube channel. This fight is more than just a title defense to Adesanya. Alex Pereira is one of the scariest dudes on the planet and to exact revenge against a killer like him would top the best wins in Izzy’s career.
Also read: Watch: Israel Adesanya lists his essentials that get him through everyday life
The two elite middleweight fighters will headline the UFC 281 pay-per-view event taking place at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. Their title fight will be co-headlined by a women’s strawweight title bout between Carla Esparza and Weili Zhang. Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler is also a fight you wouldn’t want to miss on this amazing fight card.
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Prateek Athanur
(2944 Articles Published)