“Turned to S**t”- Former UFC Champion Israel Adesanya Accuses Glory Kickboxing of Ruining His Title Fight
Israel Adesanya is one of the biggest names in modern UFC history with multiple title fights. The fighter is a two-time middleweight champion and has defended the belt five times.
However, before becoming a household name in the UFC, Adesanya spent years honing his skills at Glory kickboxing. His tenure featured several impressive performances against experienced opponents and world championships.
In October 2016, he defeated Robert Thomas and Yousri Belgaroui by decision to win GLORY’s four-man Middleweight Contender Tournament title. That tournament victory earned him a shot at the GLORY middleweight championship against reigning champion Jason Wilnis in January 2017.
The Dutch kickboxer defeated Adesanya by unanimous decision at GLORY 37 on January 20, 2017, retaining his GLORY middleweight championship. However, according to Izzy the organisers betrayed him with the controversial loss.
“That was a crooked organization just for me. For me, my experience, it was okay, then it turned to s*ht. Same with the Chinese, it was good and then it turned to sht. With Glory though, I just feel they screwed me out of a world title because they wanted the Dutch guy to win. That just made me really salty,” said Israel Adesanya.
SHOP: Kickboxing Equipment
Israel Adesanya’s shift to MMA and joining UFC
Israel Adesanya’s last kickboxing fight was a rematch against Alex Pereira at Glory of Heroes 7. The Brazilian knocked him out in the third round. Adesanya subsequently focused on his MMA career, eventually becoming UFC middleweight champion.
“Responding to Alex Pereira when I was coming up, and he was trying to egg me on, like I knocked this guy out. If I hadn’t responded, it wouldn’t have meant anything….But I benefited in the end because it gave me that chance to avenge that loss and really dive deep into myself and figure out how I can win,” said Israel Adesanya via Engage.
Following Adesanya, Pereira also made his debut in the UFC and managed to beat Izzy at UFC 281 via TKO. Following that, the ‘Last Stylebender’ was able to bounce back and take his revenge but couldn’t maintain his dominance.
READ MORE: KSI Announces Boxing Retirement as Fans Speculate Over ‘The Nightmare’ Remark
Recent posts
