| Israel Adesanya – Getty Images |
Israel Adesanya plans to ‘finish’ Jared Cannonier in their UFC276 headliner on July 1 in Las Vegas as he aims to retain his Middleweight belt.
Speaking at his exclusive pre-fight interview, ‘The Last Stylebender’ believes he would be ‘too much’ for his American opponent; The Killa Gorilla’ when they face off at the T-Mobile Arena, early Sunday morning, Nigerian time.
He said his approach to the fight will be calculative and patient while picking Cannonier apart before ultimately knocking or choking him out as he aims to prove his doubters wrong after his last two fights went to the judges scorecards.
Although Adesanya acknowledges Cannonier’s power, the 32-year-old says he is not too bothered and that his power does not make him any more dangerous, saying he will neutralize his main strength by being evasive in the Octagon.
Adesanya also revealed that he used to be cool with Cannonier but that will not be the case in the build up to the fight after the American talked smack about him and has promised to make an example of him just like he did to Paulo Costa at UFC 253 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
UFC 256 will be Adesanya’s sixth title defence since winning the belt against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 in 2019.
Since then he has recorded wins over Robert Whittaker(twice), Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori.
Adesanya’s UFC record stands at 22 wins with just one loss while his opponent, Cannonier has 15 victories to go along with five defeats.