Israel Adesanya - Respect

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Cause of all the Izzy fall from grace threads. I wanted to highlight the fact that Izzy has accomplished incredible stiff, all things considering.



I mean, the guy has over 100 pro fights between kickboxing and mma. In his kickboxing days, its not like he was fighting bums in some amateur bum league either. He has fought in elite kickboxing and mma orgs and been champ.

He is easily one of the top 5 guys in mma history to come from a pure striking base and become a defending champ, in the UFC no less. Not even Anderson had the extensive pro striking history before entering MMA.

He did also fight grapplers and tried his luck at lhw, so its not like he was gifted easy fights.

All in all, I believe that if you spend that much time ring/cage at the professional level fighting in elite orgs for the majority of your career. Father time will catch up a lot quicker. Once you hit your mid 30s its normally a wrap, especially if you are reliant on speed and quick reflexes.

When we look at his fight record its actually extremely impressive.

Kickboxing : 75-5
MMA : 24-5
Boxing : 5-1

That's 104-11 record in fighting.

Even though I wasnt a big fan of his personallity especially early on, I have to give the guy his due respect for being an absolute warrior.

 

[joy2day]

He had a great career, and there was a legit "Izzy era" at MW.

 

[Karate Kid]

recency bias as per typical of the masses will have most forget he is easily one of the best UFC fighters of all time.

to me i maintain his decline was more of a psychological element rather than father time itself, and no comeback fight will bring back a fire that was basically extinguished after he slayed his personal demon via KO (Alex Periera)

 

[Dorkman]

He had an amazing run. Surefire hall of famer

 

[Thepaintbucket]

It's time to retire but we know it won't happen. It's hard to walk away and we know most fighters won't retire unless the UFC is kicking them out the door. UFC will keep giving him fights because he's a good enough draw. They can still sell pay-per-views and use his name to build up the next generation

 

[legedema]

Nah
he was not an elite kickboxer who lost even to Filip Verlinden and he is not a good MMA fighter.
he was lucky enough to be UFC champ ( so was Bisping ).

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Nah
he was not an elite kickboxer who lost even to Filip Verlinden and he is not a good MMA fighter.
he was lucky enough to be UFC champ ( so was Bisping ).

Spoken like a true a sherdogger.

 

[Hog-train]

I'm not typically a race baiter, but I always got the impression people didn't like him because he was cocky and a black guy.

He was nowhere as cringe cocky as Colby Covington, but he was beloved while Izzy was hated. Why?

Izzy is objectively not a bad person and is loyal to his friends and other fighters in his camp. Unlike some of Colby's disloyal antics.

 

[joy2day]

Spoken like a true a sherdogger.

"He was never any good."

 

[Neck&Neck]

Izzy did OK in UFC
Hespect

 

[JustOnce]

I never liked him, but he grew on me. He's a bit of a sensitive guy, but I think he's a skilled, technical fighter who got that dawg in him too.

Having a huge set of balls to take on Pereira again and then coming through, you gotta tip your hat, you know? Probably one of the greatest wins ever in UFC.

Respect for a hell of a career he had. In terms of accomplishments, he's easily the number 2 middleweight ever. Personality aside, what's not to like? Fought frequently, fought everybody, cleaned out the division pretty much before he ran into the toughest match up in Alex. I doubt Anderson was beating Alex either.

And above all, he was a clean fighter unlike Android Silva.

RESPECTT!

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Nah
he was not an elite kickboxer who lost even to Filip Verlinden and he is not a good MMA fighter.
he was lucky enough to be UFC champ ( so was Bisping ).

Obvious troll is obvious

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

I'm not typically a race baiter, but I always got the impression people didn't like him because he was cocky and a black guy.

He was nowhere as cringe cocky as Colby Covington, but he was beloved while Izzy was hated. Why?

Izzy is objectively not a bad person and is loyal to his friends and other fighters in his camp. Unlike some of Colby's disloyal antics.

The only black guys in the UFC in modern times i seen get decent love has been jon jones and derek lewis Probably cause jon plays the part of a complete fck up outside of the cage and lewis says and does some buffoon shit inside of it. They play their parts.

 

[JustOnce]

I'm not typically a race baiter, but I always got the impression people didn't like him because he was cocky and a black guy.

He was nowhere as cringe cocky as Colby Covington, but he was beloved while Izzy was hated. Why?

Izzy is objectively not a bad person and is loyal to his friends and other fighters in his camp. Unlike some of Colby's disloyal antics.

The only black guys in the UFC in modern times i seen get decent love has been jon jones and derek lewis Probably cause jon plays the part of a complete fck up outside of the cage and lewis says and does some buffoon shit inside of it. They play their parts.

Wow, these are some seriously shocking things to say. Really?

I guess Daniel Cormier is half white now? And Colby is loved? Where? In the Maga Land where dreams come true and Trump has a brain or conscience?

That's a pretty wild thing to say but jeez. You see Izzy and you never thought oh boy this guy acts pretty unlikable?

With all due respect, I mean, you do you guys, but wow.

 

[FreddieRoachsVoice]

While his kickboxing record is obviously extremely impressive and I don't put too much stock in these losses at the end of his career, I still wholeheartedly feel that the majority of his UFC performances were incredibly boring and I will not miss seeing him in the title picture.

Pereira feels like someone who comes from an elite background who can finish a fight at any second. Forget about a piss break fighter; the majority of Izzy's fights weren't even worthy of scrolling through the Sherdog Play by Play the next morning after you went to bed. Considering how extinct the MW division for the majority of his run, it's pretty disappointing that he rarely finished anyone and he is still WAY below Anderson in the all time MW rankings IMHO

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Wow, these are some seriously shocking things to say. Really?

I guess Daniel Cormier is half white now? And Colby is loved? Where? In the Maga Land where dreams come true and Trump has a brain or conscience?

That's a pretty wild thing to say but jeez. You see Izzy and you never thought oh boy this guy acts pretty unlikable?

With all due respect, I mean, you do you guys, but wow.

DC would get bood relentlessly in his pressers against jones and wasnt at all universally loved. Woodley, Usman, Izzy, Aljo all got some heavy doses of hate. Even Rashad wasnt very much liked.

 

[JustOnce]

DC would get bood relentlessly in his pressers against jones and wasnt at all universally loved. Woodley, Usman, Izzy, Aljo all got some heavy doses of hate. Even Rashad wasnt very much liked.

Don't know about that. Woodley is one of the most entitled sounding human beings I've ever seen, though I don't know the guy.

Usman used to be called Snoozeman for a reason. Aljo's style isn't fan friendly either. Rashad wasn't the most exciting fighter around also. He got pretty good pop from the crowd when seen on camera though.

I mean it doesn't seem like it has anything whatsoever to do with their race, let's say we agree to disagree.

Also, I mean it's pretty straight forward too. Why does Rampage has fans? I mean, think about that. And compare him to those aforementioned guys. I mean the difference is pretty obvious.

But anyhow, respectfully let's say we agree to disagree.

 

[TITS]

I'm not typically a race baiter, but I always got the impression people didn't like him because he was cocky and a black guy.

He was nowhere as cringe cocky as Colby Covington, but he was beloved while Izzy was hated. Why?

Izzy is objectively not a bad person and is loyal to his friends and other fighters in his camp. Unlike some of Colby's disloyal antics.

No one liked Colby except the incel/maga morons.

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Don't know about that. Woodley is one of the most entitled sounding human beings I've ever seen, though I don't know the guy.

Usman used to be called Snoozeman for a reason. Aljo's style isn't fan friendly either. Rashad wasn't the most exciting fighter around also. He got pretty good pop from the crowd when seen on camera though.

I mean it doesn't seem like it has anything whatsoever to do with their race, let's say we agree to disagree.

Also, I mean it's pretty straight forward too. Why does Rampage has fans? I mean, think about that. And compare him to those aforementioned guys. I mean the difference is pretty obvious.

But anyhow, respectfully let's say we agree to disagree.

Rampage was entertaining but he played the sambo card as well. He and Derek Lewis both would say and do things that were both funny and humiliating at the same time. The played the buffoon part well.

 

[ssBaldy]

I'm not typically a race baiter, but I always got the impression people didn't like him because he was cocky and a black guy.

He was nowhere as cringe cocky as Colby Covington, but he was beloved while Izzy was hated. Why?

Izzy is objectively not a bad person and is loyal to his friends and other fighters in his camp. Unlike some of Colby's disloyal antics.

1) The hell Colby has to do with it? And I always thought the general consensus about Colby here was that he was a weirdo at least?
2) How do you know that Izzy is "genuinely a good person"? Did you have personal interactions with him or what?
3) Many people here think I am racist, but I never had a problem rooting for black fighters. DC and Romero are among my all time favorites. Izzy was/still is rubbing many people the wrong way. He has a cocky media persona, and gives some strong insecurity vibes. I have no idea what kind of person he is in real life, but his media side is not pleasant.

Still, anyone who knows at least something about MMA knows he is an elite fighter, like him or not.