Israel Adesanya is very much invested in the main event at UFC Paris, but the bout second from the top between two of his former opponents? He could live without it.
Adesanya believes it’s already a foregone conclusion: Robert Whittaker will defeat Marvin Vettori in the co-main event. The 33-year-old believes Whittaker’s well-roundedness should keep him out of harms way, and that the striking will be the difference.
“I’m excited for the main event. The co-main event I’m excited for, as well, but actually, I’m not,” Adesanya said on ‘The Blakamoto & Oscar Show’, a podcast run by Adesanya’s brother David Adesanya. “I’m not gonna lie. I’m not gonna bullsh*t you guys and give you the P.C. answers. I’m not actually excited for the co-main event.”
“I’ll watch it, meh. I know who’s gonna win. Rob’s gonna win, so that’s why it’s not exciting for me. But the main event, I don’t know who’s gonna win, and I like Gane, but I love Tai (Tuivasa). That’s my dog.”
The AllStar MMA roundup
- UFC Paris: Check out The AllStar’s Best Bets for UFC Paris
- UFC Paris: After a 15-month layoff, Tanner Boser is hungry for a knockout win bonus at UFC Vegas 60
- Opinion: What should MMA fighters do with their money? Advice from one veteran
The best of the rest
- Jorge Masvidal assault trial in Colby Covington case set for Dec. 5 after latest continuance granted – MMAFighting.com
- Wanderlei Silva ‘officially retired’ from MMA, passing torch to son Thor Silva – MMAFighting.com
- UFC reaches multiyear agreement with Venum to extend uniform, apparel partnership – MMAjunkie.com
- Dana White responds to cheating allegations levied against Leon Edwards — ‘Completely unfair’ – MMAMania.com
- Dana White sick of Jake Paul talk, but ‘it’s about time he’s got a real fight’ if Anderson Silva reports are true – MMAJunkie.com
The soapbox
Volk meets Hasbulla:
And defends him from Conor:
Pereira wants Wonderboy:
Paul Craig but at light speed:
Veterean ref Marc Goddard’s take on Silva vs Paul:
Dricus Du Plessis puts his hand up to fight Canonier:
I actually laughed at this one:
The morning view
JHK sits down with Brad Riddell and Jeff Sainlar for the latest instalment of Fine Dining With Fighters:
Trevin Jones previews his UFC Vegas 61 matchup:
Dan Hardy breaks down the UFC Paris co-main event:
The Weasle give his take on Whittakers potential move to 205-pounds:
Done deals
Thursday
- Billy Quarantillo to fight Alexander Hernandez at UFC 282 on December 10th (per Iridium Sports)
Wednesday
- Darren Elkins to fight Jonathan Pearce at UFC Orlando on December 3rd (per Iridium Sports)
- Alex Perez to fight Amir Albazi at UFC Vegas 66 on December 17th (per MMA Fighting)
Tuesday
- Jessica Penne to fight Tabatha Ricci at UFC event on October 1st (per Dama De Ferro MMA)
Monday:
- Melsik Baghdasaryan to fight Joanderson Brito at UFC event on October 15th (per Maranhao MMA)
- Maxim Grishin to fight Philipe Lins at UFC event on October 1st (per Raphael Marinho)
- Alexey Oleynik to fight Ilir Latifi at UFC event on October 1st ( per MMA Fight Universe)
- Muslim Salikhov to fight Andre Fialho at UFC event on November 19th (per Full Violence)
- Angela Hill to fight Emily Ducote at UFC event on December 3rd (per Nolan King)
On this day in MMA…
On the 1st of September, 2012, UFC 151 was slated to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada; however, due to withdrawals and a last-minute scramble to no avail, it became the first event in the organization’s history to be canceled.
UFC Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was scheduled to face two-division Pride and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson to headline the event. Henderson, however, ruptured his MCL and withdrew from the fight on August 23rd.
‘The American Gangster ‘ Chael Sonnen offered to replace the injured Henderson on just eight days’ notice, but Jones would decline the matchup on the advice of his coach Greg Jackson, who warned it would be the ‘biggest mistake of [Jones’] entire career’.
After Jones’ refusal, the promotion scrapped the event altogether and deemed the numbered event a ‘lost show’. This sequence of events cause a rift between White and Jackson, with the UFC president calling the coach a ‘sport killer’.
