Israel Adesanya next?: UFC News: Israel Adesanya can move up to the light heavyweight division again and face Jamahal Hill for the title in what can be an epic Champion vs Champion contest. Fresh from his KO win over Alex Pereira at UFC 287, Izzy Adesanya is once again the middleweight champion. Follow UFC updates with Insidesport.IN.
He has already cemented himself as one of the greatest 185-pounders in the UFC. Meanwhile, Adesanya’s dream to conquer the light heavyweight gold remains unfinished.
Jan Blachowicz handed Izzy his first loss in the promotion at UFC 259, where the NewZealandar was trying to capture the light heavyweight strap. Israel Adesanya’s head coach, Eugene Bareman, recently connected with Submission Radio and gave a green signal to their potential move against Jamahal Hill.
The City Kickboxing coach said, “Let’s do it.”
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Jamahal Hill earned the light heavyweight title by beating Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 in January. Adesanya’s arch-rival Alex Pereira saw Hill outclass his idol, Teixeira, in a lopsided matchup. Now that people are touting for ‘Poatan’ to move up to light heavyweight after the UFC 287, Israel Adesanya can seemingly have a shot at champion Jamahal Hill.
Israel Adesanya, however, can remain at 185 lbs and solidify his legacy as the greatest middleweight. He is still behind Anderson Silva under certain parameters and staying at the middleweight can resolve it for ‘The Last Stylebender’.
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Who can Israel Adesanya face next in the middleweight division?
Israel Adesanya has beaten all the top five contenders in his division. The remaining ones are Dricuss Du Plessis at 6th and Sean Strickland at 7th. At 8th, Derek Brunson is also a former victim of Israel Adesanya’s Knockout power. While Du Plessis can offer him a tough challenge, Adesanya’s coach has also cited Sean Strickland to be a valid opponent for themselves.
Bareman referred to Strickland and said, “You got Strickland yeah, Strickland will always give you an entertaining fight because Strickland always gives what the fans want. “
“When he should wrestle, he never wrestles. He stands up. He does opposite to what you should do to win a fight. But yeah he is very entertaining.”
After back-to-back losses against Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier, Strickland returned to the win column against Nassourdine Imamov via decision in January. It remains to be seen whether he shall get a title shot against Adesanya next.
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Editors pick
