Israel Adesanya has spoken about how upset he was following his win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 this summer.
In the main event of UFC 276, Israel Adesanya defeated Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision. However, while he successfully defended his middleweight crown once again, ‘Stylebender’ wasn’t pleased with his performance.
He clearly wanted to put on a show and, ultimately, that didn’t really come to fruition.
In a recent interview ahead of UFC 281, Adesanya opened up on how he felt backstage after the bout.
“I don’t hold onto things,” Adesanya said. “I let myself feel them. People try to deny things and block it, if you fight your emotions they’ll get you later on. So I feel it.
“I cried backstage. Me and [coach] Eugene [Bareman] hugged it out and he told me, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.’ I was like, ‘Just give me a bourbon, I’ll be fine.’ So I expressed it, feel it, and I let it go. It’s a good way to release emotions… it relaxes you. It’s just a normal human function, I don’t know why we shame it.”
Adesanya’s redemption
“[I was] upset at myself for what I wanted to do,” Adesanya said. “People mistake it. This is not about other people. This is about me. I did the Undertaker walkout and I had this Miyamoto Musashi mentality like I’m going to make him wait, because I don’t think it’s going to last long. Then I get there and I’m a little bit frustrated during the fight trying to figure out how to take this guy. I’ve said it many times, his corner, wow, MMA Lab beautiful, because they saved him. They’d see things I was setting up and call it and I’m just like, ‘F***, OK, they can see that coming.’ So they saved him a lot and he’s a good student for listening to them as well.
“For me, it was just the pressure I put on myself because it was International Fight Week, I’m like, ‘Damn, I want to f****** take this to the next level after I smoke this guy.’ And I felt like I didn’t smoke this guy, but I beat him quite easily. Easily. So for me, it’s the expectations I put on myself, that’s what.”
Quotes via MMA Fighting
Will Israel Adesanya register a better performance against Alex Pereira? Let us know in the comments, BJPENN Nation!
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