Having traveled the hardest of roads to become a UFC champion, Israel Adesanya has opened up about exactly what it takes to scale the MMA mountain.
In his magnificent career, ‘Stylebender’ has showcased his remarkable striking skills and bulletproof mindset, en route to becoming a 2x middleweight world champion.
Israel Adesanya reveals the fundamental ingredients necessary to become a UFC King
On August 18 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, Israel Adesanya will square-off with his arch nemesis, Dricus Du Plessis, at UFC 305, in a bid to lift the championship belt above his head for a third time.
After years of exchanging brutal insults, the fans can’t wait to watch the pair of sporting titans finally settle their differences once and for all.
The major contest will test the Nigerian to his limits as he aims to dethrone a man who’s yet to taste defeat in the UFC.
However, this isn’t the first time that Adesanya has had to overcome insurmountable odds. After losing in crushing fashion to Alex Pereira twice in his kickboxing career, and a third time in the cage, some resigned to the possibility that the Brazilian may just have ‘Style Bender’s’ number.
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However, in their second MMA bout, in a testament to his fighting spirit, the New Zealand-based striker detonated a destructive combination to send his rival hurtling towards the canvas, to earn his revenge.
With such remarkable levels of self-belief, Adesanya is in the perfect position to discuss just how difficult it is to become a UFC champion, revealing why most don’t have what it takes to reach such an incredible height.
During an interview with TODAY, he explained: “You know, everyone wants to be a champion until you have to train for five rounds, five minutes each time, and then have to do it in front of millions and millions of people, in front of the whole world.”
Later in the chat, one of the hosts explained that she finds watching UFC, “really uncomfortable,” to which Adesanya fired back: “It’s not for everyone, but again neither is rugby, neither is league, neither is any kind of sport. Everything’s got some kind of risk of violence to it but its you know, this is the ultimate sport.”
Ultimately, whether it’s to everyone’s taste or not, fighting is a craft that captures the imagination of fans around the globe for one simple reason.
Israel Adesanya and Dana White agree that ‘fighting is in our DNA’
Throughout human history, rightly or wrongly, human beings have settled their differences with fisticuffs.
As the years have rolled on, martial arts have become less about brutality and more about discipline, with the very best competitors in their respective sports dedicating their entire lives to honing their crafts.
Now, organizations like the UFC have given these incredible athletes an opportunity to display their talents on the grandest stage of all.
However, to our cores, there’s still something primal about fighting, with Dana White explaining during an appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast, that he believes it’s ‘in our DNA’.
Echoing the UFC CEO’s sentiments in his interview with Today, Adesanya added: “Dana says it best, ‘This is in our DNA’, you could have any kind of sport going around, if a fight breaks out, everyone stops and goes (turns head around).”
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