The State of Israel Adesanya's Star Power after UFC 276

 IS ISRAEL ADESANYA LOSING FANS?



    This past weekend was the UFC's biggest card of the year to cap off International Fight Week with middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defeating #2 contender Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision (49-46 x2, 50-45) in the main event of UFC 276. 

    The card was stacked from the early prelims to the main event, but the fights left many fans underwhelmed, especially with the lackluster main event. 

    Adesanya implemented a very smart game plan, keeping the powerful Cannonier at range with low kicks and jabbing at him from a distance and never put himself in harms way at any time during the 25 minutes. However, this is now the fourth fight in a row for Adesanya that he would describe as "an off night". 

    His run to get to the title was filled with many entertaining and wild moments including his 2019 fight of the year against Kelvin Gastelum, his knockout over long reigning champion Robert Whittaker, and short notice main event against a legend of the sport in Anderson Silva.

    But ever since Adesanya won the title against Whittaker in October of 2019, 4 out of his 5 title defenses have been very safe and mediocre performances by the UFC's next big superstar. In fact, some fans that were there live for the UFC 276 main event were caught on camera leaving the arena before the 5th round...





    Yeah... not a great look for Adesanya and the UFC.

    There is a reason to be excited for the future of the middleweight division as new blood is starting to rise to the top, including Adesanya's old rival, Alex Pereira.

    In the feature fight of UFC 276, we saw Alex Pereira knockout #4 contender Sean Strickland with a clean left hook that left Strickland dazed. 


    Pereira owns two victories over Adesanya in kickboxing, including Adesanya's only knockout loss. This now sets up the third fight in MMA and couldn't come at a better time as Adesanya is in dire need of a contender who can threaten him on the feet. 


    The UFC fast tracked Pereira to the title because of his history with Adesanya and will make for great promotion for their next fight. 

If Adesanya can get a win over Pereira in dominant fashion, he might start to see some of his old fans jump back on board, but until then he will continue to see criticism from both the media and the entirety of the UFC fanbase. 

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