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Mike Rodriguez is confident that Israel Adesanya will capture his second UFC belt, defeating light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259.
The current middleweight titleholder moved up a weight class in an attempt to become the eighth UFC double champion. If Israel Adesanya manages to beat Blachowicz, he will become the fourth fighter to hold two division belts simultaneously.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Rodriguez predicted that Israel Adesanya would induce the 205 lbs champion into an error before finishing the fight.
"Stylebender beats Jan on Saturday. He makes him miss and knocks him out," said Rodriguez. "He is going to be a beast in the division. I have always been a huge fan, and I can't wait to see him crush it, honestly."
Fighting in the light heavyweight division since making his way into the UFC via Dana White's Contender Series in 2017, Rodriguez is facing a tough time during his early days in the promotion.
While 'Slow' has favored Israel Adesanya, one may suggest Blachowicz should be more of an inspiration to him. The Polish mixed martial artist held the same UFC record as Rodriguez does now before becoming a champion.
Both fighters started their journey in the UFC with two wins and four losses. Rodriguez can even argue that one of his negative results should not count.
Fighting Ed Herman at UFC Vegas 10, Rodriguez got involved in one of the worst mistakes in recent UFC events when referee Chris Tognoni stopped the fight believing Herman had suffered a low blow.
The bout was paused for a few minutes, giving Herman time to recover from a legit strike that Rodriguez had landed. He managed to submit Rodriguez via kimura.
Mike Rodriguez shouldn't expect Israel Adesanya to stay at the 205 lbs division
Even though Mike Rodriguez believes Israel Adesanya would achieve great success as a light heavyweight, he should not keep his hopes high to see much of "The Last Stylebender" in the weight class.
Israel Adesanya has already declared that he will return to compete at middleweight after his title shot at 205 lbs. Staying at light heavyweight is not his priority as "Izzy" intends to keep actively defending both titles.
"I'm planning to go back down to 185 lb after this. But also, I've got some cards that I hold close to my chest that I can't tell you right now, but over time I will unfold them," Israel Adesanya told ESPN's Ariel Helwani.
If Izzy is not available in the future, there is another fighter in the light heavyweight division that Rodriguez would be delighted to face inside the octagon.
"I would love to fight [Mauricio] Shogun [Rua]. Just because he's one of my heroes, and also, it would be cool to fight a Pride veteran," said Rodriguez.
