The now-former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 185-pound dipped on UFC 293’s post-fight press conference (watch it here) after a truly puzzling performance.
Israel Adesanya dropped his Middleweight strap (again) at UFC 293 last night (Sat., Sept. 9, 2023), losing a unanimous decision to challenger Sean Strickland from inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia (watch highlights).
“The Last Stylebender” didn’t speak with commentator, Daniel Cormier, immediately after the fight like losing champions usually do, so the whole mixed martial arts (MMA) world had to wait until he made an appearance at UFC 293’s post-fight press conference (watch here).
And rather than clarifying what went wrong, he added more confusion to the pot.
“Pause ... I had a different plan for this, but again, life throws curveballs at you,” Adesanya told the media. “Win or lose, I wasn’t going to say much anyway, but right now, I lost tonight to the better man on the night and I just want to go with the people who care about me — my team.
“They are waiting for me, so I’m going to do that, but I’ll leave you in the capable hands of a man who is much smarter than me,” he concluded. “I’ll leave it with Eugene Bareman, who will handle this for the first time.”
After the former champion abruptly left, Bareman — his long-time head coach — issued a statement and took questions from the media.
“Definitely not protocol, but this is our team,” Bareman said. “This is how we do it. He wants to go, he wants to be protected, it’s our job to protect him. So, if this is what he wants, this is what he gets.
“He is in a time of need right now,” Bareman continued. “So, if I have to sit up here in front of you guys, then I have to sit up in front of you guys for him.”
The loss to Strickland was only Adesanya’s third defeat in UFC and only his second at Middleweight. After an incredibly impressive run, “The Last Stylebender” is now just 1-2 in his last three fights.
Perhaps its time to take a well-deserved break.
For complete UFC 293 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.
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