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Israel Adesanya has spared no effort to scale the peaks of the UFC. 'The Last Stylebender' attempted to become only the fifth fighter in the promotion's history to hold two titles at the same time. Although Adesanya was unsuccessful to break into the elite double-champions club, he was still lauded for his effort - even by one of his biggest arch-rivals.
After his fight against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259, the 31-year-old Israel Adesanya assured that he would move back to the middleweight division to 'rule' the 185-pound weight class once again. However, Israel Adesanya confirmed that he is not shutting the door on a possible return to light heavyweight sometime in the future.
The middleweight champion suffered the only loss of his professional MMA career at UFC 259. Reacting to his defeat, Israel Adesanya said that he knows how to deal with losses since he has been beaten six times in his boxing and kickboxing career.
However, Israel Adesanya's response to his loss wasn't the only reaction to banner the headlines. His fellow UFC competitors as well had an interesting take on his defeat. Here are the five best reactions from UFC fighters to Adesanya's first MMA loss.
#1 Paulo Costa asks Israel Adesanya if he was drunk
Paulo Costa's rivalry with Israel Adesanya is well documented. 'The Eraser' suffered a devastating loss at the hands of the Kiwi at UFC 253 last year.
Costa recently claimed that he was not able to sleep on the night before his clash against Israel Adesanya, which forced him to consume some wine. The Last Stylebender, however, was having none of Costa's excuses. He hit back at the Brazilian for the justification behind his loss.
However, following Israel Adesanya's defeat at UFC 259, Costa pounced on the opportunity to troll his rival. He asked the New Zealander if he was drunk before his showdown against Blachowicz, which has only added fuel to his largely unsettled rivalry with Israel Adesanya.
Costa, who hilariously claims that he is still undefeated while being sober, is set to fight Robert Whittaker on April 17 this year.
#2 Jon Jones goes on a tweeting spree
Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya have traded insults at each other for quite a while. A potential clash between the two UFC superstars was also rumoured, which has now received a big blow following Israel Adesanya's loss.
'Bones' was quick to disregard the middleweight champion's efforts at UFC 259. He suggested that Israel Adesanya couldn't have defeated him wherever they fought. Jones also noted that people should stop jumping on a 'hype train' since Israel Adesanya's striking prowess is arguably not the best.
Nevertheless, Jones acknowledged Israel Adesanya's effort of trying to become a champion in two different weight classes.
The former light heavyweight champion relinquished his title last year in August. Jones is currently bulking up to compete in the heavyweight division and is likely to receive a title shot on his debut.
#3 Marvin Vettori and Justin Gaethje slam the UFC commentary team
No. 5 ranked middleweight contender Marvin Vettori was not pleased with the commentary team at UFC 259. According to him, Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier and Jon Anik gave Israel Adesanya more credit than he actually deserved.
Vettori suggested that Jan Blachowicz's performance was far better and that the commentary team should be 'ashamed'.
Vettori wasn't the only one who felt commentator bias. The No. 2 ranked lightweight Justin Gaethje echoed the Italian's thoughts. Gaethje said Blachowicz won the first two rounds of the fight and that the UFC commentators were 'unbelievably biased'.
Vettori will mark his return to the octagon on April 10 against Darren Till. He last fought Sweden's Jack Hermansson in a five-round battle that helped him break into the top five in the middleweight division.
Meanwhile, Gaethje's next opponent has not been decided. His last UFC outing was opposite Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254.
#4 Kamaru Usman doesn't agree with the judges' scorecards
UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman didn't agree with how the judges scored the fight between Israel Adesanya and Jan Blachowicz. He accepted that both light heavyweights put on a show at UFC 259, but his Nigerian counterpart did better than what the scorecards suggested.
Israel Adesanya lost the fight via unanimous decision, with the scores being 49-46, 49-45 and 49-45 in favour of his Polish opponent. Meanwhile, UFC president Dana White was also furious with the scoring. At the post-fight press conference, he blasted the judges for scoring a 10-8 round in favour of Blachowicz.
Usman recently defeated Gilbert Burns to defend his title for the third time at UFC 258. Following his win over the Brazilian, he called out Jorge Masvidal and claimed that the 'BMF' champion wouldn't be able to beat him with a full training camp.
#5 Francis Ngannou thinks Israel Adesanya is still a winner
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou heaped praise on Israel Adesanya despite his loss to Jan Blachowicz.
'The Predator' said Israel Adesanya is still the winner in his eyes and produced a 'great performance" against Blachowicz. Ngannou admired Adesanya's urge to become a two-division champion by challenging someone like Blachowicz.
The 34-year-old Ngannou is set to contend for the UFC heavyweight championship for the second time on March 27 this year, where he will lock horns with Stipe Miocic at UFC 260.
Ngannou is riding a four-fight win streak after beating all of his past four opponents via KO/TKO in the first round.
