"I feel like he's so slept on" - Israel Adesanya reveals his all-time top-2 P4P fighters in the UFC

Israel Adesanya had the occasion to speak with Alexander Volkanovski on various topics, one of them being Adesanya's all-time top-2 P4P fighters in the UFC. The Nigerian was quick to name Anderson Silva as his top pick. However, he quickly backtracked and admitted that he had to rethink his choice between the Brazilian and Demetrious Johnson.

Israel Adesanya said:

“Okay, it’s between ‘DJ’ and Anderson Silva. Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse.’ Just, I feel like he’s slept on… He’ so slept on in the history because… I don’t know why. I think it’s just meatheads look at a guy like that and think in their head, like when they say the lighter guy fight they think, oh nice I’ll just pick him up and learn that you know. I think it’s that mentality… Okay, Demetrious and Anderson, I’ll give my top two”.

Watch Israel Adesanya reveal his top 2 P4P fighters in the video below:

Demetrious Johnson is an inaugural and former UFC flyweight champion. He defeated Joseph Benavidez in the finals of the flyweight tournament at UFC 152 back in 2012. He defended the title a record 11 times until losing the belt to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227 in 2018. Following that, he was transferred to ONE Championship where he won 3 out of 4 of his last fights.

Anderson Silva is a former UFC middleweight champion who set a record for the longest title reign in the promotion’s history as he held the belt for 2,457 days. He won his belt by defeating Rich Franklin at UFC 64 back in 2006. After 12 defenses, he lost it to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in 2013. He unsuccessfully tried to regain it at UFC 168. After that, he lost 7 out of 8 of his fights.

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Israel Adesanya on breaking Anderson Silva’s record

As mentioned before, Adesanya holds the Brazilian in very high regard. His record-setting reign became a part of his legacy as one of the all-time best MMA fighters. Israel Adesanya, who’s the reigning UFC middleweight title holder, was asked if he thinks about breaking the aforementioned record and his legacy in general.

In his interview with Niko Pajarillo, the Nigerian said:

“No, I don’t look at numbers. I don’t really try and chase numbers. I literally just win. I just win, but now, I’ve already done this in the past and done this for years, but I want to get back to winning in style. Yeah, just winning in my style, and not just to win, but win emphatically. So numbers don’t bother, I don’t chase numbers, they chase me.”

Watch Israel Adesanya talk about not thinking about breaking records in the video below:

Israel Adesanya became middleweight champion at UFC 243, where he defeated Robert Whittaker. He has since defended his trophy four times, including a rematch with Whittaker at UFC 271 being his last outing in the octagon. Now he’s scheduled to defend against Jarred Cannonnier in the UFC 276 headliner.