Adesanya Overlooked Strickland – Says Yoel Romero

In today’s MMA latest headlines, Yoel Romero has opened up on Israel Adesanya’s performance against Sean Strickland.

Izzy lost his middleweight title via a unanimous decision as Strickland shocked the world at UFC 293. Prior the fight happening, though, Adesanya was very confident over getting a result.

So much so that he vowed to make things look easy. However, once the fight had begun, it was anything but that. Towards the end of the first round, Strickland managed to drop Adesanya, showing that he belonged at that level.

In the aftermath of the fight, there were question marks over whether there was going to be a rematch. In addition, Adesanya’s enthusiasm for wanting the rematch was questioned after he claimed that he would now be fighting for ‘fun,’ indicating that his desire for the belt may no longer be there.

Adesanya’s Motivation

“The belt’s never mattered to me. I mean, it does obviously, but how many times have I said it’s just a fancy tiara that brings more money and this and that, rah, rah, rah. That belt’s just a nice accessory. I’ve already got belts, I have many belts. I’m just going to do it again, just for fun. Just for fun,” Adesanya

And when it came to his motivation, Romero questioned whether Adesanya was ready to take an immediate rematch.

Romero On Adesanya

“What I think is right now, when you have a fight and you take the damage, like Alex make against Izzy, now Izzy has a little problem, not too much. That’s what I’m thinking. Now he’s scared a little bit because he needs more time to recover. When you take a lot of punches in one fight, you lose – no excuses. Maybe if he had more time to recover, the fight would be different. Believe me … when he lost to Alex, he took a lot of punches,” Romero

Clearly, Izzy will have to weigh up whether it is worth taking the risk. The former middleweight champion cannot afford to have another defeat, knowing that his standing in the division would decrease.

In addition, given that a fight with Dricus Du Plessis had been teased prior to fighting Adesanya facing Strickland, another loss would potentially end all hopes of seeing that fight.

But a win is likely to increase the hopes of seeing that bout, given that Du Plessis is the number one contender in the division. In addition, the rivalry has been set out already.

Du Plessis’ comments about becoming the first person to bring back the belts to Africa raised a lot of eyebrows, given Adesanya’s Nigerian roots, as well as the fact Francis Ngannou was the former UFC heavyweight champion.

Although Adesanya may not hold a belt, there is enough of a grudge to make it happen. That is why Romero was on board with it.

“If he’s (Du Plessis) good, that’s the guy he needs to fight. After this, ‘Killa Gorilla’ (Cannonier), and after this, the rematch with Izzy,” Romero