Israel Adesanya has always done things his own way.
It’s why he’s been so successful in a three-year UFC stint that has seen him collect middleweight gold, and now, challenge for light heavyweight supremacy.
But going into his 205-pound title fight against Polish punisher, Jan Blachowicz, the Nigerian-born Kiwi is doing something we haven’t really seen before.
Watch UFC 259, Blachowicz v Adesanya and Nunes v Anderson on Foxtel’s Main Event, on Sunday 7 March at 2pm AEDT. ORDER NOW >
“Don’t be surprised if I weigh in at 193 [pounds],” Adesanya told ESPN earlier this week. “Don’t be surprised.”
That would be a full 12 pounds under the light heavyweight limit, and only eight heavier than the middleweight limit, which Adesanya said he could make this week if he had to.
“It’s just silly to me when people decide to go ‘add more muscles’ to their frame that they’re not used to over the years they’ve been working this game,” Adesanya said.
“For me, I just do this thing different. I want to bring it back to the rawness of martial arts technique. So, don’t worry about weight, don’t worry about all that.”
Adesanya, who had experience at heavyweight during his kickboxing career, said he expects to weigh 195-pounds on fight day; something Blachowicz, who said he’ll be around 220-pounds, is looking to capitalise on.
“He’s thin, you know. That’s it,” Blachowicz told ESPN.
“He will be really fast, and he focused on this. Maybe if he put on more weight he would be slower and lose his best weapon. I think otherwise he’s going to be low weight, that’s why. But I don’t care. I train with guys in his division so I’m ready for his speed.
“I’m going to use my power and my weight and make him tired in the clinch. I’ll use everything that I can to win this fight. And also my body is going to larger and I’m going to use this to win the fight.”
Blachowicz earned gold with a second-round finish of Dominick Reyes after long-time champion Jon Jones vacated the belt.
And if you ask Eugene Bareman, Adesanya’s coach at City Kickboxing, the 38-year-old is the middleweight champion’s biggest test.
“This is Israel’s hardest fight by quite a bit,” Bareman told Submission Radio. “I think this is a jump up from any of his previous challenges. And for all intents and purposes within our camp, we are building ourselves as the underdogs.
“And we’re doing that based on the fact that we’re giving away this big size and weight advantage that we sometimes have in our favour. Now we’re gonna give it away. So, it’s just a very hard (fight).
“What we’re about to attempt here is, people don’t understand, a very, very difficult endeavour and a very risky one, and one that makes for all us coaches and Israel, it makes the hairs on the back of our necks stand up.
“Because this is a true, true challenge – a hefty challenge. And it’s a scary one, and it’s one that gets you up early in the morning and wanting to attack it. And we’ve had a great camp because it’s just a highly motivating fight. And it’s a highly motivating fight because it’s such a dangerous fight.”
Adesanya claimed interim UFC gold after a five-round war with Kelvin Gastelum in 2019, before he unified the division with a second-round finish of Robert Whittaker. Wins in 2020 over Yoel Romero and most recently Paulo Costa has seen the 31-year-old rise up the men’s pound-for-pound rankings; sitting behind only Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jones.
A win on Sunday in a new division, and Adesanya will have a claim for the No. 1 spot.
Watch UFC 259, Blachowicz v Adesanya and Nunes v Anderson on Foxtel’s Main Event, on Sunday 7 March at 2pm AEDT. ORDER NOW >
