Israel Adesanya never needs extra motivation heading into a fight but even he’s not immune from a little extra excitement when headlining arguably the most marquee event of the year.
The reigning middleweight champion defends his belt against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 to cap off International Fight Week, which will likely be one of the biggest showcases for the promotion in 2022. Adesanya doesn’t let pressure overtake him. However, he admits that there is an infectious enthusiasm among his team in advance of UFC 276. Alexander Volkanovski will be joining Adesanya in the comain event. Max Holloway will take on the featherweight champion for the third time.
” [it makes me more excited],” Adesanya stated that he was the International Fight Week headliner during the UFC Vegas 57 after-fight program. “I’ll say yes and I like to live up to the challenge.”
Adesanya, when he addressed his fight against Cannonier on Saturday, was as confident and upbeat as ever. He also revealed a simple strategy that he believes will work once the pair step foot into the cage.
” Everyone’s [saying] “What’s your game plan?” Adesanya asked, “How are you going beat Jared?” He’s going to be f***ed up.
“That’s the main thing. I’m going to f*** him up and I’m saying that because I want that. People should be able to say, “Let’s see what we can do .”
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The anticipation was only heightened after Adesnaya saw his teammate and friend Carlos Ulberg win a decisive first round knockout at UFC Vegas 57..
While he stated that neither his win nor his loss would affect the outcome of his fight, Adesanya acknowledges Ulberg’s hard work as they prepare for the upcoming performances.
” We were at the same training camp. You can see what [Carlos Ulberg] did just now,” Adesanya stated. “Trust me, he could have gone three, four, five rounds if he needed to. He did it in one [round]. It’s now game on. Practice patience everyone ’cause I am.”
Beyond his own fight, Adesanya is also incredibly impressed by the entire lineup set for UFC 276, which features a long list of former champions, top contenders and notable prospects decorating the undercard between two title fights at the top.
That only makes Adesanya want to steal the show that much more as he looks to put an exclamation point on the weekend with his fight against Cannonier.
“You go on my ‘FreeStyleBender’ YouTube page, me and Alex [Volkanovski] did a breakdown and we didn’t even skip a fight. It’s stacked,” Adesanya said. “Literally, it’s stacked, stacked, stacked from the bottom to the top. You’ll find some fights in there.
“This fight is one of the most important in the year. We have to show out. That’s what it is. It’s our turn to shine and, as you all know, when the time comes, I display .”
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