Red hot UFC middleweight contender Israel Adesanya will return to the Octagon at UFC 230, which goes down on November 3 in New York City. His opponent in this next fight will be established contender Derek Brunson, who called him out repeatedly before the fight was made official.
While it was Brunson who called Adesanya out, Adesanya doesn’t believe Brunson actually wanted the fight. In fact, he claims the UFC made Brunson call him out.
“He didn’t call me out, the UFC made him call me out,” Adesanya told Luke Thomas on the MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting). “He wouldn’t even dare say my name. I feel like if he turned down a fight with me it would make him look bad. They forced him to take that fight because he wouldn’t dare call me out by himself. He was trying to make it out like, ‘Sign the contract’, but I was like, ‘Bro, I signed the contract two days ago, what are you on about?’ This ain’t the WWE and I keep up that image, but I think he’s in over his head on this one. He’s never been in a fight like this. I know he’s fought Anderson Silva, but he hasn’t been in a fight with anyone like me, so I think it’s a new territory for him.”
Now that the fight is official, Adesanya says he’s excited to punish his rival. And he doesn’t expect that punishment to last more than a round.
“I want to punish him, but I don’t think he’s going to last a round because of the way he fights. Even at that press conference, if not for Dana White, he would’ve ran straight into what ever I wanted. I had already established my distance with hand on his chest and he’s already running forward with his chin up. That already tells me how he’s going to approach this fight.”
Do you think Israel Adesanya can topple Derek Brunson at UFC 230 this November?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/7/2018.