Video – Israel Adesanya joins Alexander Volkanovski for sparring ahead of UFC 298: ‘I wanna see how sharp he is’
Former undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya may be sidelined from the Octagon amid an unspecified injury, however, the City Kickboxing staple joined a late sparring session ahead of UFC 298 as training partner, Alexander Volkanovski prepares for his title fight return at the featherweight limit against Ilia Topuria.
Making his return to the Octagon next weekend in Anaheim, Volkanovski makes his comeback to the featherweight limit, attempting to launch another title defense in a grudge match with the unbeaten, Topuria.
Last time featuring at UFC 294 back in October at the lightweight limit, Volkanovski suffered a brutal first round high-kick and strikes KO loss to Islam Makhachev in the pair’s title fight rematch in Abu Dhabi.
And winding down training this week ahead of his trip to California ahead of next weekend’s title fight with Topuria, Volkanovski was joined at training by Nigerian-Kiwi striker, Adesanya, who has yet to receive booking since dropped his championship at UFC 293 back in September.
Israel Adesanya spars alongside Alexander Volkanovski pre-UFC 298
Linked with a title outing against newly-minted gold holder, Dricus du Plessis in his return to the Octagon, Adesanya claimed he travelled to training with Volkanovski, in order to find some inspiration and learn from the New South Wales native’s “energy”.
“[I got here] Thursday evening,” Israel Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Just a quick one. I’m meant to stay for a week, but I’m gonna stay to just see Volk (Alexander Volkanovski) there in the last – in the home stretch. “I’ve seen him there before but I wanna see him in Wollongong, in Windang, at Freestyle MMA.”
“I wanna see him in his house, on the home stretch, see where his mindset’s at, see how sharp he is, and draw energy from it,” Israel Adesanya explained. “That’s why I am here.” (H/T MMANews)
When do you expect to see Israel Adesanya return to the UFC?
