Legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas has named Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones, among other fighters, on the list of fighters he considers to be the best boxers in the UFC.
The Staten Island-born coach who trained Mike Tyson, Michael Moorer, and Alexander Povetkin, among other champions, has developed a reverence for MMA in recent times, and his thorough analysis of major events in the UFC has become a staple for MMA fans.
Speaking in a recent interview with The Schmo, Atlas named Israel Adesanya and Jones on his list of elite strikers in the UFC:
“Well, Adesanya’s pretty good at moving around and striking. Now, some people might say he’s more defensive, he’s been a little defensive-minded, but he’s great. I thought Max Holloway was tremendous. I know he got taken apart by Volkanovski, but Max for me was a really good striker.”
Furthermore, Atlas heaped praise on former two-time light heavyweight champion Jon Jones for his unconventional striking methods:
“I think Aldo’s pretty good. Volkanovski knows what the hell he’s doing. He just took apart Max Holloway. I think Jon Jones is a d**n good striker. He kind of plays to his own music. He goes to a beat on a different drummer. It’s like he mixes it up as he does it, and that takes special talent.”
Teddy Atlas also rightly predicted that Israel Adesanya will deviate from his usual approach and utilize his wrestling in the fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 281.
Israel Adesanya speaks candidly on his loss to rival Alex Pereira
Israel Adesanya dropped his middleweight crown to Alex Pereira at UFC 281. Despite the devastating loss, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has been extremely gracious in defeat and has vowed to fight on.
Although he believes that his leg was compromised due to an early leg kick by ‘Poatan’ during their hotly contested bout and that the fight was prematurely stopped, Israel Adesanya has praised his rival’s ability to bounce back from adversity.
The way Adesanya sees it, he has dealt with bigger losses and disappointments in his life. Dealing with them has helped shape him into the man that he is today and he spoke candidly about his character on a recent episode of the FLAGRANT podcast:
“I’ve had bigger disappointments in my life. Much bigger disappointments in my life. I think people expect me to handle it the way they would. So they think like I’d be in the shadows right now, like, sad. I’m like, it’s fine, it’s life.”
Watch the clip below: