Israel Adesanya recently hit back at critics who criticized him for inaction after his first title defense against Yoel Romero. The UFC middleweight champion slammed Twitteratis and MMA media for blaming him for inactivity, although Romero didn’t engage with him.
‘The Last Stylebender’ believes people’s ‘goldfish’ memory made them forgetful of the numerous classics he produced inside the octagon. ‘Izzy’ said in a recent episode of Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson:
“I was waiting for him to do something but he was just staying there. And then after that fight I remember the rhetoric. All these mo****f***ers on Twitter, all these reporters, ‘Oh, he’s boring, he’s this, he’s that.’ I’m like, ‘B**ch, I’ve given you classic after classic after classic after classic and then this moth**f***er doesn’t wanna fight me, and then now you wanna talk this shit?’ ….We’re in the era of ‘what have you done for me lately’.”
Adesanya proved his doubters wrong by scoring a second-round TKO win over Paulo Costa in his next title defense. The Kiwi claimed that the last elbow he landed on ‘Borrachinha’ was a deliberate response to the criticism he had faced.
Israel Adesanya’s speech inspired by Roy Jones Jr.
Israel Adesanya chose his signature ‘stick-and-move’ approach against Yoel Romero at UFC 248, who refused to brawl, unlike his usual self. However, the Nigerian native was blamed for a lackluster performance as he headed into his second title defense against Paulo Costa at UFC 253.
Israel Adesanya was confident about proving his doubters wrong, repeatedly quoting Roy Jones Jr.’s iconic line, “Y’all must have forgot,” during fight week. ‘The Last Stylebender’ delivered a striking clinic against Costa, decimating his lead leg before swarming in for the kill in round two. Emphasizing his point, Adesanya said in the post-fight octagon interview:
“Y’all must have forgot. Y’all must have forgot because of the last fight. ‘Oh, he’s so boring. Blah, blah, blah.’ But trust me. I had to make you all remember. I had to remind the world why we the best.”
Watch Israel Adesanya’s post-fight interview below:
Since winning the interim title and unifying the belts in 2019, Adesanya has ruled the 185lbs division with an iron fist. The champion is undefeated at middleweight, having defended his belt four times so far.