Category: UFC 287

‘I wanted him to get comfortable’ — Israel Adesanya shows possum training for Pereira KO at UFC 287

Posted on by Zane Simon in MMA News, UFC 287, UFC News

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In his five years of fighting in the UFC, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has built a reputation as one of MMA’s most creative and technical strikers. After making the move from a full time kickboxing career, the former GLORY world champion blitzed the middleweight division, rattling off six straight victories in just over 12 months time, including capturing an interim title with a win over Kelvin Gastelum.

That kind of success put Israel Adesanya in the sights of then-champ Robert Whittaker, for his first true crack at bragging rights for the label of ‘best middleweight in the world’. Adesanya walked away with his hand raised, and seemed an unstoppable force at 185 lbs. That is, right up until the moment he met a familiar foe on a familiar trajectory. In the sixth defense of his crown, Adesanya faced off against former kickboxing opponent and fellow GLORY champion Alex Pereira. Despite winning the majority of the rounds, and hurting Pereira badly, the ‘Last Stylebender’ would fall in the final frame, victim of a TKO stoppage.

Israel Adesanya is adamant that he was playing possum at UFC 287

It was a result that Israel Adesanya protested, at least a little bit, at the time. He claimed that he had been playing possum with Pereira when the ref stepped in to wave it off. Not many bought his explanation, but it just might hold a little more weight now. That’s after the rematch went down this last Saturday, April 8th, in Miami, FL.

After a hot start from Pereira, behind a bevvy of powerful low kicks, the Brazilian appeared to have Adesanya on the ropes, up against the fence, covering and hurt once again. But as Pereira opened up his defense to put Adesanya away, he found himself on the receiving end of a series of power right hands that knocked him entirely unconscious.

Had Israel Adesanya been playing possum again? In a recent video uploaded to his Twitter account, the newly reclaimed middleweight champ not only reiterated his conviction that he wasn’t actually badly hurt by ‘Po Atan’, but he even gave fans a glimpse behind the scenes to quell the doubters. Paired with the footage of his UFC 287 highlight knockout, Adesanya showed off some sparring film from the gym, where viewers can see him practicing fighting his way off the cage with heavy right hand counter shots. Exactly the kind of offense he landed to finally surmount his greatest foe.

“I wanted him to get comfortable, so he thinks I’m a punching bag now,” Adesanya said, watching the footage of his latest victory. “‘Oh, I can just tee-off on him, like all these other guys I fight with.’ Bro, I’m not these other f-ckin’ blood clots.”

Adesanya now claims rivalry with Pereira settled

Even for those unconvinced that Israel Adesanya wasn’t on his last leg before knocking Pereira cold, the above video shows an impressive level of opponent-specific preparation for that exact scenario. The kind of training that may only come from having fought against, and lost to, the same opponent time and time again. Despite that success, and despite still being down 1-3 in their career rivalry, Adesanya now seems to feel the score against Pereira has been settled.

“I don’t keep score, I settle them,” Israel Adesanya told reporters after his win. “Now it’s settled. Look, I gave him a fast track to the belt. I could’ve said, ‘Nah, f-ck no. Who has he fought?’ He fought one top-five fighter. But no. He did well, fought some alright guys and beat f-cking Strickland and I was like, ‘Okay, fine. There’s no one else.’ But also, I was looking for that challenge—the guy that beat me in kickboxing. I was looking for that challenge. That’s why I took that fight,” he continued, dismissing the idea of an instant rematch with the Brazilian.

Despite being nearly a year since Israel Adesanya has faced anyone other than Pereira for the title, the middleweight division hasn’t exactly established any new contenders. At the moment, Robert Whittaker is the only man with a clear grip on the no. 1 spot at 185. Dricus du Plessis is the only new face on the horizon and he still seems at least one, possibly two fights away from the belt. That fact didn’t deter UFC president Dana White from backing up Adesanya’s feelings that another bout against Pereira was off the table. To hear White tell it, Pereira is actually headed to the light heavyweight division.

Pereira confirms he’s headed to light heavyweight

It didn’t take long, either, for the 35-year-old Teixeira MMA and Fitness fighter to confirm those rumors. In a post to his YouTube channel just a few days after the loss of his belt, Pereira made the move official.

“My next fight will be at 205!” Pereira announced. “I think I did my job at 185 and now I’m feeling good to go up to 205. Like I told you, when I’m feeling good, I will go up. This will be something natural, and now I think it is.”

What does that leave next for Israel Adesanya? Jan Blachowicz has called out both men, suggesting he’d not only be willing to welcome Pereira to light heavyweight, but that he’d even be willing to try and make the cut to middleweight for a chance at gold there. Blachowicz and Adesanya already faced off at UFC 259 back in 2021, with the Polish fighter taking a unanimous decision from the City Kickboxing talent. For his part, however, Adesanya’s team seem to have their sights more firmly focused on trying his luck up a division once more. Not against the former champ, but against current title holder Jamahal Hill.

“Let’s do it. Let’s do it,” Israel Adesanya’s coach, Eugene Bareman exclaimed about the possibility of a matchup with Hill.

No telling which way the UFC may want to go next for the middleweight belt, but without a clear challenger waiting in the wings, it might just be that this is the time to try and get creative. Then again, with Khamzat Chimaev reportedly set to face off against Paulo Costa in the fall, a win for the Chechen could rocket him into top contender status and have the UFC brass leaning on their Nigerian-born star to take a bout against ‘Borz’ to see if the top prospect can’t live up to the absurd amount of hype he’s built.

‘I have no proof’ – Gilbert Burns apologizes to Jorge Masvidal for UFC 287 greasing accusation

Posted on by Zane Simon in Latest News, MMA News, UFC 287, UFC News

In terms of results, UFC 287 was a great night for Gilbert Burns. The former UFC title contender took minimal amounts of damage in a decisive 3-round victory over Jorge Masvidal. Sure, the fight wasn’t the most thrilling thing to watch, but for a fighter looking to keep his place at the top of the division, winning was the most important thing.

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That proved doubly true after the event, when Burns seemingly leveraged his record and ranking into backup status for the likely upcoming title fight between Colby Covington and Leon Edwards. Despite all the success, however, ‘Durinho’ wasn’t entirely satisfied. Speaking to the assembled media at the UFC 287 post-fight presser, Gilbert Burns had a grievance to air over the lackluster nature of his performance in the Octagon. To hear him tell it, the reason he didn’t dominate Masvidal more thoroughly was because ‘Gamebred’ was cheating.

Gilbert Burns accused Masvidal of ‘old dog’ Miami trickery

“That guy was freaking slippery,” Gilbert Burns told reporters, adding that he was 100% sure that Masvidal was greasing. “That’s an old dog Miami trick with the lotion, because he was so slippery. Wow.”

For his part, Masvidal was quick to deny the accusation. Noting that, over his very long career, he’s never had a problem with regulations or commissions.

“Maybe I’m the sweatiest motherf—ker he knows, but I’ve never greased,” Masvidal responded, when asked about Burns’ claims, adding that the referee would have quickly noticed if he was oily—rather than just sweaty—in the cage.

Perhaps it’s a simple act of contrition on Gilbert Burns’ part with a little extra time to think about the fight? Or maybe it’s public & private backlash he’s faced since making his claims? Or maybe Masvidal’s response on the matter was enough to put the whole thing to bed? Whatever the case, Burns took to social media on Tuesday to issue a retraction and an apology to his opponent.

Burns issued an apology on Twitter

“What’s up guys, Gilbert Burns right here. And I just would like to take a moment to apologize to Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal and his team, ATT,” Burns stated in the video message. “The things that I said after the fight at the post-conference at UFC 287—I said that he passed lotion and this and that. And I said too much. And I cannot prove that and I would like to send my apologies to Jorge and his team.

“And with everything that I said, I hope he accepts my apologies. I feel what I did was wrong; I have no proof that he did that and I want to take nothing away from him. The guy is a warrior; 52 pro fights. I hope he have a good retirement and I hope you accept my apologies. Thank you, guys.”

Without Burns prepared to back up his claims with an official complaint to the commission, that likely puts the matter entirely to bed. In the meantime, the Kill Cliff FC athlete seems like he’s in for a bit of a wait on the sidelines, until the welterweight title picture sorts itself out more completely.

For Masvidal, retirement awaits. The 38-year-old has expressed some interest in possibly stepping into the boxing ring at some point in the future, but that doesn’t appear to be anywhere on the near horizon. Though fans might expect him to jump at the growing market for ex-MMA talent in bare-knuckle boxing, Masvidal has essentially ruled out the idea, noting that long-standing hand issues would make competing without gloves nearly impossible.

UFC 287: Israel Adesanya wants to whoop Dricus du Plessis’ ass ‘so bad’, will ‘gladly drag his carcass across South Africa’

Posted on by Zane Simon in MMA News, UFC 287, UFC News

It seems that Dricus Du Plessis has done an excellent job of getting under Israel Adesanya’s skin. The South African UFC fighter has made a campaign of thinly veiled potshots at the Nigerian-born New Zealand-based title holder, consistently suggesting that men like Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman aren’t “real Africans” because they don’t live on the continent anymore. Nevermind that both the ‘Last Stylebender’ and the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ were transplanted as children who moved with their families, Du Plessis seems to take it as a slight that they continue to lay claim to their heritage.

Du Plessis has made a point of taking shots at Adesanya and Usman

“Did those belts ever go to Africa?” Du Plessis asked the assembled media, speaking of Adesanya and Usman after UFC 285. “As far as I know, they came to America and New Zealand. I’m going to take a belt to Africa. I’m the African fighter in the UFC. Myself and Cameron [Saaiman], we breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa, we’re African born, we’re African raised, we still reside in Africa; we train out of Africa—that’s an African champion, and that’s who I’ll be.”

If he’s hoping to get a rise out of the City Kickboxing star, by all appearances he’s succeeding. Israel Adesanya was asked about Du Plessis as a potential top contender after his stunning KO victory over Alex Pereira at UFC 287 this last weekend. The response from the 33-year-old couldn’t have been more forceful.

Those shots haven’t gone unnoticed by Israel Adesanya

“Look—fuck, I don’t wanna give this n-gga no clout,” Adesanya responded when asked about Du Plessis. “I want to whoop his ass so bad. I want to whoop his ass so bad; I want to do it in South Africa or Nigeria. But he’s gotta do work. He’s gotta do something, show me something, so I can whoop that ass. And I can show you history. I’ll remind you, because you gotta choose your words wisely, when you speak on people that have come before you, people that paved the way for you.

“You gotta choose your words wisely. You want to try and be a big boy, you want to bam-ba, you want to chill with the big boys? You gotta choose your words wisely.”

Despite his clear disdain for Du Plessis, however, it sounds like Israel Adesanya would be 100% down for the fight if the Team CIT talent can work his way to contention. If for no other reason than an opportunity for public humiliation.

“I don’t want to give him no clout, but if he does work—and I pray to God he keeps winning—I will gladly drag his carcass across South Africa.”

Du Plessis is currently on a seven-fight winning streak, stretching back to a 2018 loss to Roberto Soldic in KSW. ‘Stillknocks’ made the jump to the Octagon off back-to-back wins in 2019, and has been unbeaten through five bouts with the UFC so far. His most recent victory came against longtime contender Derek Brunson at UFC 285 back in March. After a rough first round, Du Plessis rallied in the second to force a corner stoppage at 4:59 of round 2.

It just might be that title contention will come swiftly the 29-year-old fighting out of Pretoria. A quick glance at the UFC rankings shows that despite Du Plessis sitting in the six-spot at 185, every fighter ranked ahead of him has already fought and lost to Israel Adesanya at least once before. If Du Plessis can get another big win in the not too distant future, he just might find himself with a chance for gold. And Israel Adesanya might just find himself with a chance to silence an upstart rival.

Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz: Bitter rivals to BFFs?

Posted on by Zane Simon in MMA News, UFC 287, UFC News

There have been few combat sports rivalries that seemed so long lasting and bitter as the one between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. One time training partners, way back in the early days of MMA when Ortiz was first skyrocketing to fame as a top contender in the UFC’s new light heavyweight division, Liddell’s own rise to fame quickly saw the two men pitted against one another.

Not helping keep the peace between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz was UFC president Dana White. Back before White became an MMA promoter, he had a brief run as a talent manager. One of his most prominent clients? None other than the ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’. Eventually, the relationship between the two men soured so badly that there was even talk of making a pro boxing match between White and Ortiz.

Dana White was a major driver of the wedge between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz

“The reality is I used to beat the living shit out of Tito Ortiz back when we first bought this company and we used to box,” White said at a 2014 press conference, claiming that he had gone through pre-fight medicals and licensing before Ortiz backed out of their bout on weigh-in day.

As president of the UFC, one of White’s chief early interests was the promotion of new rising star Chuck Liddell. So much so that White took Liddell over to Japan for the 2003 PRIDE MW Grand Prix, with the personal guarantee that the ‘Ice Man’ would win the whole thing. A semi-final round beating at the hands of Rampage Jackson put a stop to that, but Liddell was fast becoming the poster boy of the new Zuffa era of the UFC. A fight between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz was going to be a key part of crafting that narrative.

Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz fought for the first time at UFC 47 in 2004. Just five months after Liddel’s humiliation in Japan. Liddell stopped Ortiz via KO 38-seconds into the second round. Two years later, the two men met again, with Liddell knocking Ortiz out in round 3. The victory would be one of the very last of Liddell’s MMA career. But it wasn’t the last time the two men would meet inside the cage.

In 2018 Liddell came out of a nearly decade long retirement for the long talked of, but seemingly never going to happen trilogy bout against Ortiz. Four minutes and 24-seconds into round 1, Ortiz had his revenge, a first round KO of his greatest rival. Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz might not have had the fiery hatred of one another that fueled their early career, but there was no love lost.

“People always talk to me like I hate him or something. I don’t hate the guy,” Liddell said in a 2019 interview. “I don’t care enough about him to hate him actually. But I hope he has a great life. I don’t particularly like the guy, that hasn’t changed. I don’t deal with him.”

Fast forward to UFC 287 last Saturday and Israel Adesanya’s massive victory over Alex Pereira, and it just might be that the feud that defined both men’s MMA careers is well and truly put to bed.

Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz seen partying together at Izzy’s UFC 287 after-party

It’s a beautiful thing to see so much bad blood washed away by time. Ortiz and Liddell became stars in their own time because of the rivalry they shared. No reason they shouldn’t both enjoy the afterglow all these years later. Just don’t let Dana White hear about it.

UFC 287: Pereira vs. Adesanya 2 – Fights to make

Posted on by Zane Simon in UFC 287, UFC Editorial, UFC Results, Uncategorized

UFC 287 is in the books and it was a hell of a fun PPV event. Israel Adesanya regained his middleweight crown from Alex Pereira. Gilbert Burns put Jorge Masvidal to pasture in the UFC 287 co-main. And Rob Font slammed the door on rising prospect Adrian Yanez. Plenty of finishes, a couple remarkable wars, and even a hard fought comeback or two.

So, if Pereira goes to light heavyweight after UFC 287, who does Adesanya fight now? Is Burns really going to get a shot at welterweight gold off a win over an obviously shopworn ‘Gamebred’? And what does the UFC do with Raul Rosas Jr. now that the wheels are off the hype train?

To answer those questions—and a whole lot more—I’ll be using the classic Silva/Shelby fight booking methodology from the UFC of years past. That means pitting winners against winners, losers against losers, and similarly tenured talent up against one another. Hopefully, by following that model, a few of these post-UFC 287 bout ideas will actually make it off the page and into the Octagon. Now, let’s get to the fights!

ISRAEL ADESANYA

The ‘Last Stylebender’ is back, baby! And just as petty as ever before. All child taunting aside, though, Israel Adesany had an incredible night at UFC 287. Alex Pereira was his dragon to slay, his mountain to climb. The impossible fire hydrant upon which Adesanya could not urinate. But he kept trying, over and over again, and finally he did the damn thing.

The potential was always there; Adesanya had hurt Pereira with extremely similar shots in each of their last two bouts, and very nearly KO’d him both times. But standing 8-counts and round endings had saved ‘Po Atan’ in the past. This time, there was no angel on the Brazilian’s shoulder. Adesanya caught him swinging wild with a huge counter and a couple followup shots sent the former Glory champ crashing to the canvas. That puts Adesanya back on top of the middleweight division.

What else is Izzy gonna do?

Honestly, if it were purely just a ‘what’s the coolest fight the UFC could make at 185 right now?’ kind of situation, then the answer would be Adesanya vs. Pereira 3. Robert Whittaker is the division’s only other obvious top contender and Whittaker vs. Adesanya 1 & 2 were not big PPV sellers. It’s also not a fight that makes much meritorious sense, considering that Whittaker is 0-2 in the series so far.

Given all that, it may just be the best idea for Adesanya to wait and see what happens. And especially to hope that Dricus Du Plessis’ run of success continues. The other, other option is that Jan Blachowicz called Adesanya out. If he can make 185—like he’s suggesting—that’s a true wild card. What the hell, if ever there was a time to get crazy, this is it. Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya 2 is just mental enough to work.

ALEX PEREIRA

A shocking upset loss for the middleweight champion. Alex Pereira has seemed like he had Izzy’s number for quite a while now. So much so that, even with Adesanya claiming that he was better prepared than ever, and even with oddsmakers giving the City Kickboxing talent favorite status, it still felt like UFC 287 was not a fight Adesanya would win.

It didn’t look like a fight he was winning after the first round, either. Sure Adesanya was more aggressive and persistent with his offense, but he also ate 64% of the strikes Pereira threw, and was getting his leg absolutely chewed to bits by the Brazilian’s kicking game. When he started to shell up with his back against the cage, a victory for ‘Po Atan’ seemed secure. Then the bombs dropped, and so did Pereira.

Hill needs a top contender.

It’s a brutal loss for the Teixeira MMA & Fitness fighter, and one that just may spell the end of his time as a middleweight as well. After the UFC 287 bout, Adesanya seemed to feel the book on their rivalry had been closed (ambitious, considering he’s lost 3 out of 4 fights), but Dana White carried that message along with the news that he expected Pereira to move up to light heavyweight following this loss. If that’s the case, then he’ll be an immediate top contender, but should he be THE top contender?

If Jiri Prochazka isn’t going to be back soon (and it seems unlikely he would be) then Pereira might just make more sense than Ankalaev or Blachowicz considering that their draw got them both jettisoned from contention. I’d love to see Pereira vs. Blachowicz as a first test, but that just seems like a dangerous waste of a big fight. Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill is the best light heavyweight title fight that can be booked right now.

GILBERT BURNS

Was this really the performance to get Gilbert Burns a title shot again? ‘Durinho’ didn’t exactly perform poorly, but Jorge Masvidal hasn’t looked like the ‘BMF’ champ for a minute now and most of what Burns had to offer in the early stages of this fight at UFC 287 was a low output kickboxing match. Where’s the version of Burns that buzz-sawed through Neil Magny? Where’s the version that went to war with Khamzat Chimaev? I don’t know if he was just overly wary of Masvidal’s reputation, or wanted to prove a point about his own striking ability, but once he actually turned up the heat in round 3, it became clear just how one-sided this fight could have been.

Still, Burns demanded that he be named backup for Edwards vs. Covington after UFC 287 if (or when) that fight gets made official, and Dana White seems like he’s down for the idea. Bad news for Belal Muhammad, who still can’t seem to get a fingerhold on top-contender status, despite all his success, but Burns vs. the Covington/Edwards winner seems like the fight that’s going to get made.

ROB FONT

If Adrian Yanez has been something of a slow starter in the past, it seems like he was more than ready to change up the narrative against Rob Font at UFC 287. Font came out pressing hard, working heavy 1-2s behind a big jab. And Yanez was right there in the pocket, waiting to meet him with slick counters and a fast, darting jab of his own.

For a couple minutes it seemed like Yanez was even getting the better end of the deal. Font’s face was getting busted up quickly and he was walking right onto counter hooks and uppercuts. But the more Yanez tried to stand his ground and trade with Font, the more the disparity in natural power came into play. Font started landing hooks and uppercuts of his own and quickly put Yanez on his heels. A couple heavy trades of leather later and Font was getting his hand raised for the first round stoppage.

Umar has been tearing it up at 135.

Exactly the showing Font needed at UFC 287 to prove he’s still a top 10 guy in the bantamweight division. Fights with Umar Nurmagomedov, Dominick Cruz, or the Song Yadong off a win over Ricky Simon would all be good. That Nurmagomedov fight is sitting right there, might as well go with that one. Rob Font vs. Umar Nurmagomedov is a great fight to see if Nurmagomedov is a top contender right now.

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