- Middleweight champion Adesanya says McGregor ‘brought a lot of attention to the game’ and he is ‘about to do the same’
- The pair are signed to the same management company – ‘when [McGregor] wins, I win’
Video footage of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya shows the Nigerian-New Zealander praising former double champion Conor McGregor's win over Donald Cerrone in real-time.
Adesanya, who some would argue has assumed the promotion's new torch-bearer role into 2020, was impressed with the Irish welterweight's first-round technical knockout last weekend.
"He brought a lot of attention to the game at a time that it needed it. I'm about to do the same," the 30-year-old (professional MMA record 18-0) said to EMG Access.
The 31-year-old McGregor (22-4) finished "Cowboy" Cerrone in just 40 seconds having taken the veteran to the clinch, shouldered him multiple times, before feigning a left hand and landing a head-kick. The bout was stopped by the referee soon after.
"Yee haw. That's over," said Adesanya, smiling. "You're done, son. That's right … Look, (he) sets up, shows the (left) hand … that's nice. Just a little touch of the left hand."
Although the pair are very unlikely to trade strikes in the Octagon " McGregor is usually a 155 pound lightweight whereas Adesanya is the 185 pound middleweight belt-holder " they are signed under the same Paradigm Sports Management agency and have shown a mutual respect for each other's technical and showmanship ability.
McGregor had said in interviews leading up to his UFC 246 fight that he had been keeping tabs on "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya and was impressed with his rise to fame.
Adesanya also called McGregor a "gangster" for his unconventional shoulder strikes, which broke Cerrone's nose and orbital bones within a matter of seconds.
"It was great. I loved it. I appreciated the way he played the game," Adesanya said to ESPN. "I loved the shoulder strikes, that was gangster. I liked the head-kick, that was sick. It was real slick. I'm a big fan.
"And obviously his management team is my management team, so it's good. It's a good win for us because when he wins, I win; when I win, he wins. It's good for us because we get to claim a lot of chips on the table."
View this post on Instagram
"Sometimes fame and money could change everything" Love me or hate me, you're all gonna pay me. I'm not even talking money. You'll pay attention #2020vision #rinnegan
A post shared by Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) on Jan 15, 2020 at 6:21pm PST
Adesanya defends his belt for the first time against contender Yoel Romero at UFC 248 in March this year.
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.