• He’s Facing The ‘Hardest fight,’ Says Coach
Nigeria born, New Zealand-based UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, is sure of securing victory against his Polish opponent, Jan Blachowicz, in today’s light heavyweight title fight at UFC 259 in Las Vegas, USA.
“I’m not getting touched in this fight. That’s my plan. Not getting touched like I did in the Costa fight,” Adesanya told TheMacLife.
![[FILE] Israel Adesanya avoids a punch from Paulo Costa during their UFC middleweight championship bout at UFC 253 on September 27, 2020 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Adesanya-v-Costa-by-MMA-Fighting-120x86.jpg "Costa mocks Adesanya ahead UFC 287 rematch with Pereira 5")
The UFC 259 main card will be streamed live on ESPN+ pay-per-view within the last hours of today (March 6). While Blachowicz holds a record of 27-8 MMA, and 10-5 UFC, Israel Adesanya has 20-0 MMA and 9-0 UFC.
The Nigerian, who hails from Odogbolu, Ogun State, will become only the fifth two-weight champion in UFC history if he wins today.
Despite being his first bout in the new division, Adesanya is confident he will come out on top and boldly predicted he won’t get hit by his Polish opponent.
He said: “I didn’t get touched in the Costa but like I did in the Costa fight because I didn’t let him touch me in the face at all. Make sure I don’t get hit and watch out for the body kick.”
Adesanya, who boasts a 20-0 UFC record, is the reigning middleweight champion after defending his title against Paulo Costa in September. But he is now moving up to light heavyweight.
Though, the Nigerian has a strong striking defence, but Blachowicz believes he will land a knockout shot on The Last Stylebender.
Blachowicz said: “We do a lot of wrestling, so maybe, I will take him down. But, I like fighting standup, and every fight starts standing,’ he said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com about today’s fight with Israel Adesanya.
“If I have a chance to take him down, I will do it. I watched the fight in kickboxing where he got knocked out many times. I will use my striking to knock him out. It’s part of my game plan, but you will have to wait until then to see the fight. He will feel the Legendary Polish Power, I promise you.”
Meanwhile, Adesanya’s coach, Eugene Bareman, has warned it will be his toughest fight.
“This is Israel’s hardest fight by quite a bit,’ Bareman said in an appearance on Submission Radio.
“I think this is a jump up from any of his previous challengers. And for all intents and purposes within our camp, we are building ourselves as the underdogs.”
“And we’re doing that based on we’re giving away this size and weight advantage that we sometimes have in our favour. Now, we are gonna give it away. So, it’s just a very hard (fight).
“What we’re about to attempt here is, people don’t understand, a very, very difficult endeavour and a very risky one, and one that makes for all us coaches and Israel, it makes the hairs on the back of our necks stand up.
“Because this is a true, true challenge – a hefty challenge. And it’s a scary one, and it’s one that gets you up early in the morning and wanting to attack it.
“And we’ve had a great camp because it’s just a highly motivating fight. And it’s a highly motivating fight because it’s such a dangerous fight.”
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