Israel Adesanya was criticised for his "boring" title defence in July - but MMA analyst Brendan Schaub thinks the blame should be put on his opponent Jared Cannonier.
Former middleweight champion Adesanya made the last defence of his belt against Cannonier at UFC 276, winning a lopsided decision against the American in an uneventful fight. 'The Last Stylebender' lost his title against Alex Pereira in November when he was knocked out by the Brazilian after winning most of the fight.
Fans called Adesanya for to be stripped of his belt after defending it against Robert Whittaker and Cannonier because of the lack of action in the fights. But Schaub, who was once a top-ranked UFC heavyweight contender' thinks more of the blame should have been put on Cannonier instead of Adesanya.
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"I think this is more of a matter of Jared Cannonier against Israel Adesanya," Schaub said on his 'Thiccc Boy ' podcast. "Jared Cannonier against a lot of people. He's just a tough cookie to figure out. He makes guys just look kind of basic or average. There's just something about Jared's fighting style that guys get out of what got them into the dance, creates kind of this boring fighting style."
Despite winning the 185lb title back in 2019 by knocking out Whittaker in their first meeting, Adesanya has never been known for his finishing rate and has just three finishes in 14 UFC appearances. The criticism he faced for winning shutout decisions was similar to what Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre received during their tenure as UFC champions.
Adesanya admitted he was frustrated after beating Cannonier as he wasn't able to get the finish that he hoped for. The former champion insisted that he wasn't bothered by the criticisms from fans, but rather the pressure he put on himself to stop Cannonier in emphatic fashion. The Nigerian-born Kiwi even cried backstage and hugged his coach Eugene Bareman after being overwhelmed with emotion.
"It was just emotional, [crying] is a good way to release emotions," Adesanya said on The MMA Hour. "I was upset at myself for what I wanted to do, this is not about other people it's about me. I was little bit frustrated during the fight trying to figure out this guy. It was the pressure that I put on myself because it was International fight week and I wanted to take things to the next level, I wanted to smoke him."
