Conor McGregor promised he would buzz the MMA world at UFC 246 on Saturday, and the former champ did just that, by quickly putting away Donald Cerrone. So, was Israel Adesanya one of the people who was impressed by the controversial star’s performance? Yes. Yes he was.
Adesanya comments on McGregor’s win
Leading up to UFC 246 there was extensive speculation about how McGregor would look in his much discussed return. The bout was his first since he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in October, 2018, and further, McGregor’s made headlines for several incidents in recent months.
But, just as McGregor predicted, he quickly put away Cerrone. The Irish fighter dazed Cerrone with several shoulder strikes moments in, and after tagging “Cowboy” with a head kick, he finished the fight with a swarm of punches. After UFC 246, Adesanya spoke with ESPN, and here’s some of what the middleweight champ had to say about McGregor’s performance:
“It was great, I loved it. I appreciated the way he played the game,” Adesanya said. “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 the chips on the table.”
Now, even if you’re not a McGregor booster, you have to admit the shoulder strikers were something special. How often do you see shoulder strikes utilized to daze and bloody a fighter? McGregor’s follow-up head kick was also ridiculously fast.
It’s also true that with McGregor winning, the door to more, massive fights has been opened in 2020. Whether it’s Conor facing the winner of the April 18th bout between Khabib and Tony Ferguon, or McGregor fighting Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz. Who knows? Maybe McGregor will ask to fight Justin Gaethje?
Adesanya vs. Romero
As far as Adesanya’s fighting career, recently the UFC confirmed that the champ is going to get his wish, as a bout with Yoel Romero has been booked for March 7th. The fight will headline UFC 248, which will be hosted by the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Here is the line-up to date for the upcoming card.
Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero
Joanna Jędrzejczyk vs Weili Zhang
Beneil Dariush vs Drakkar Klose
Neil Magny vs Jingliang Li
Emily Whitmire vs Polyana Viana
Guido Cannetti vs Danaa Batgerel
Jose Alberto Quiñones vs Sean O’Malley
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