Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya, 31, has been fighting since 2012, earning a perfect 20-0 record and the UFC middleweight championship. In the main event of UFC 259 on Saturday, he aims to beat light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz, and become only the sixth champ champ in league history, and the first to hold the 185 and 205 belts simultaneously.
At Thursday’s pre-fight press conference, “The Last Stylebender” was asked if he has bitten off more than he can chew.
Never,” he replied. “I’ve got a big mouth so I can eat a lot. For me, this is what I’ve always predicted to do in this game is change the game. Change history. I came in here just over three years ago and look what I’ve done so far and I got a long way to go.
His next goal is to move up to heavyweight, and challenge Jon Jones, who has vacated the belt that Blachowicz now holds, in order to make a run at heavyweight. And at some point in there, if all goes well, he’ll be compared to the most famous MMA fighter in history, Conor McGregor.
It’s inevitable, said Adesanya. But I just have to get used to it. I just have to accept it and not hide from the role that I’m in. Not hide from the platform that I’m on. Because a lot of people get to this spot and then they start to like ‘I’ve been here.’ What did Kanye West say? Y’all can have it back. Sometimes. But I just accept that it is what it is. I am who I am so I just run with it.
With Blachowicz immediately ahead, and Jones potentially out there in future, Adesanya also has his home division. It’s a lot.
Middleweight’s my division so I rule that with an iron black fist,he said. So yeah, I’m going to go back down and handle business there depending on the lay of the land. But also I peek ahead, I don’t look too far ahead because I’ve got this Viking in front of me. Yeah, I’m looking straight at him but I peek ahead and just see what the lay of the land is, how I can change history again.
h/t Damon Martin for MMA Fighting
