UFC Newcomer Says He ‘Had More Hype Than Conor McGregor’ In Debut
UFC 221 took place last night (Feb. 10, 2018) live on pay-per-view (PPV) from Perth, Australia, and although it wasn’t the most stacked event, there were certainly a few bright spots that stuck out with one being the debut of UFC newcomer Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya.
Due to a highlight reel of kickboxing finishes, the New Zealand native has received quite a bit of attention and he continued to raise his status in the Octagon, as he scored a stoppage victory and earned a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus.
Now one of the brightest prospects in the UFC, Adesanya will likely continue to receive a good deal of hype, and he even went as far as to say that he has been hyped more than lightweight champion Conor McGregor, the biggest star the sport’s ever seen:
“The pressure has been the same since the jump, since 2008 when I started fighting,” Adesanya told Submission Radio. “After my first fight people were like ‘Wow, look out for this guy’ and it’s been growing, following me. Pretty sure I had more hype than Conor [McGregor] before he jumped into the UFC. Now people know who I am and it’s time to work.”
And it appears as if “The Last Stylebender” will be looking to keep the train rolling and stay active:
“Hey, in 2016 I fought over 20 times,” he said. “And not like gimme fights, the Chinese were trying to kill me so they were giving me killers. So yeah, I’m not new at this, I like staying active. I’m gonna have a week off just to chill, let my hair down. I’m going to go out on a boat here with my crew and get some things done. But everyone’s going to try and call me out now so I’ll leave it to you guys to fight over who wants to fight me next.
”I’ve got a four fight contract, I’m going to get through that this year and then yeah, probably top 10 by next year. I see that happening. I’m in the UFC now, I’ve felt the buzz, deja-vu, same thing different day. Yeah, I want to be in the top 10 by next year but who knows, could be this year!”
Who would you like to see Adesanya fight next?
