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It is safe to say that Israel Adesanya stunned the world with his highly impressive performance at UFC 253. With a second-round TKO win over Paulo Costa, The Last Stylebender cemented his place as one of the best UFC Middleweight Champions of all time, along with his idol Anderson Silva.
During his post-UFC 253 press conference, Israel Adesanya broke down his flawless win on Fight Island and the reigning 185-lb champion noted that he was always 10 steps ahead of Costa.
“I’m 10 steps ahead. I told you guys I’m 10 steps ahead. You think these are just words, but I’m 10 steps ahead."- Israel Adesanya.
Izzy then reminded everyone how he backed up all his words and added that Paulo Costa has only fought "human punching bags", something that Adesanya isn't. Adesanya ended his statement with a major shoutout to his City Kickboxing team.
"I told you guys in the pre-fight I’m not a human punching bag. He’s only fought human punching bags, guys who will just stand there and cover up. They just let him tee off on them. I knew, because he was cutting me off. Bro, we are the best, City Kickboxing.”
Israel Adesanya vs Jared Cannonier in the making?
Israel Adesanya has bonded pretty well with fellow middleweight Jared Cannonier. The Killa Gorilla, who is set to fight at UFC 254, will next be crossing paths with former UFC Middleweight Champion, Robert Whittaker.
Shortly after his win, Adesanya claimed that if Cannonier is successful in his fight against The Reaper, then the reigning champion will gladly share the Octagon with him. If not, Izzy would still be up for a rematch against Robert Whittaker. At UFC 243, The Last Stylebender defeated Whittaker to become the undisputed UFC Middleweight Champion and 11 months later, Israel Adesanya now holds wins over both Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa as champions.
