Former UFC champ Chris Weidman not impressed with Israel Adesanya

By Tom Taylor - February 10, 2019

Last night, in the last-minute main event of UFC 234, surging middleweight contender Israel Adesanya picked up the biggest victory of his career thus far, out-duelling former champion Anderson Silva for three, riveting rounds, and earning a unanimous nod from the cage-side judges.

Israel Adesanya, Chris Weidman

With this victory, Israel Adesanya has emerged as one of the foremost contenders in the UFC middleweight division, and remains one of the most hyped fighters on the UFC roster.

Former champion Chris Weidman, however, isn’t too impressed with this new middleweight force. In his eyes, the Adesanya hype is just a bit overblown.

“Adesanya is just a tad bit overrated,” Chris Weidman wrote on Twitter early on Sunday morning.

Israel Adesanya is currently a flawless 16-0 overall. The former kickboxer’s last 5 wins have occurred in the UFC’s Octagon, where he’s delivered impressive wins over Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson, and most recently, Silva.

Chris Weidman, meanwhile, is 14-4 in sum. In his last fight, he was knocked out by former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. This loss was preceded by a submission victory over top middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum, and a trio of stoppage losses to Gegard Mousasi, Yoel Romero and Luke Rockhold. Weidman’s loss to Rockhold marked the end of his middleweight title reign.

He captured the title with a knockout of Anderson Silva in 2013, and defended it three times: in a rematch with Silva, and in fights with Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort.

What do you think of Chris Weidman’s comment on Israel Adesanya?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 2/9/2019.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Chris Weidman Israel Adesanya UFC