Israel Adesanya fires back at Shara Magomedov’s UFC 308 callout: ‘Keep my name out your mouth’
Reacting to a callout from the unbeaten, Shara Magomedov following UFC 308 over the course of last weekend, former champion, Israel Adesanya has urged the Russian to prevent speaking his name — appearing to pour cold water on a potential title eliminator next.
Adesanya, a former undisputed middleweight gold holder twice under the banner of the UFC, has yet to book his return to action since he suffered a fourth round rear-naked choke submission loss against defending champion, Dricus du Plessis back in August ‘Downunder.
Suffering his second consecutive loss as a result, City Kickboxing staple, Adesanya had dropped a prior unanimous decision shutout loss to rival, Sean Strickland in September of last year — losing the middleweight title he had regained earlier in the annum.
And linked with a potential return against the rising, Nassourine Imavov off the back of his UFC Paris win over Brendan Allen, Adesanya was the subject of a callout from Magomedov over the weekend in Abu Dhabi.
“I used to chase [a fight with] Israel (Adesanya) when he fought in kickboxing in China,” Shara Magomedov told assembled media following his UFC 308 win in Abu Dhabi. “I was fighting kickboxing in China, too. Now that he switched to MMA, and now that I’m here [in the UFC], I’m ready to capture [what he’s had]. I’m ready to fight him.”
“It doesn’t matter where,” Shara Magomedov explained. “I beat his friend and sparring partner, ‘Blood Diamond’, in China and I was ready to fight him. Israel is very popular in China. Then he switched to MMA and signed to the UFC — and now I’m here, too.”
Israel Adesanya responds to callout from Shara Magomedov post-UFC 308
And in a response on his official YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya appeared to voice his surprise to find himself called out by the undefeated finisher, Magomedov.
“Keep my name out your f*cking mouth,” Israel Adesanya said. “What the f*ck did I do? Why he (Shara Magomedov) say f*ck me for?”
