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What's the story?
In a recent interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour Show, Middleweight upstart Israel Adesanya spoke up about his upcoming Octagon opponent, Anderson Silva, who will be making his UFC return in early 2019.
In case you didn't know...
At UFC 230, Israel Adesanya secured yet another impressive win when he knocked out top Middleweight fighter Derek Brunson via Knockout within the very first round of their fight. Having made his UFC debut in 2017 against Rob Wilkinson, Adesanya is currently undefeated inside the Octagon having picked up vital wins over Marvin Vettori and Brad Tavares at the TUF 27 Finale.
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The heart of the matter
While speaking with Ariel Helwani, Israel Adesanya stated that former UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva has always been a major inspiration to 'The Last Stylebender', who has been modeling his style after Silva and has also looked up to 'The Spider' as an inspirational figure. (H/T: MMAjunkie)
“I’m a guy that started off modeling my style after his, because he’s a skinny black guy like me, and I look up to him. So, I was like, if you want to fight your clone, you can fight me. But I’m better than your clone, because I’ve studied every single thing you’ve done, every (expletive) move you make. I know when he’s going to chill, I know when he’s going to attack, I know when he’s offensive, I know when he wants to blitz."- Adesanya stated on The MMA Hour.
In addition, Adesanya stated that Anderson had initially rejected the fight offer and the former was rather offered to fight Jacare Souza instead, however, 'The Spider' eventually agreed to the fight which was eventually confirmed for UFC 234.
"Initially, Anderson said no. I was kind of like, ‘(expletive), oh well.’ I mean, it’s kind of good that I don’t have to kill my hero.”- Adesanya added.
What's next?
Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva will lock horns at UFC 234 in Melbourne, Australia on the 9th of February, 2018.
