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UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya wouldn’t be surprised if he defends his gold against a current prospect down the line.
Adesanya had a seemingly quick rise to the top of the UFC middleweight mountain. “The Last Stylebender” was a spectator for Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey back in Nov. 2015. At the time, Adesanya told himself that he’d be taking that spotlight someday. Fast forward to late 2019 and he now rules the 185-pound roost.
Adesanya Praises Edmen Shahbazyan
There’s one middleweight prospect who Adesanya is high on and that’s Edmen Shahbazyan. During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Adesanya told Rogan that he wouldn’t be surprised if he shares the Octagon with Shahbazyan in the future (via Bloody Elbow).
“I saw his fight,” Adesanya told Rogan. “He hit Brad Tavares with the head-kick and that kind of caught my attention like, ‘oh s—t, who is this kid?’”
Adesanya admitted that he isn’t sleeping on Shahbazyan.
“He’s at 185, he’s 21. He’s on the come up. I played with Brad for five rounds, he starched him in one round. I’m not taking that lightly. I look at that kid,” Adesanya continued. “Eventually, when that kid comes up, I’m sure I’ll see him at some point. I need to get back to work. Don’t get me wrong I’m working. But you know that FOMO [Fear Of Missing Out].”