Israel’s Statement & Jan’s Stand
By Eddie Sanchez
UFC 253 did not disappoint as The Last Stylebender notched a huge statement victory in outclassing Paulo Costa in under two rounds. The energy was electric and the mutual-hate was felt throughout the fight, but Israel Adesanya went to work and made it look easy.
What went wrong for Paulo?
For starters, his ultimate downfall stemmed from the fact that he was unable to apply pressure to the champ. Paulo has often fought best when in close proximity to his opponent where he can impose his will and utilize his brute strength.
Unfortunately, Paulo was never able to secure a rhythm and was forced to respect Adesanya’s strikes. It was clear that Adesanya quickly diminished Paulo’s movement with his leg kicks and Paulo surprisingly did not do much to avoid these shots. These strikes lead to Paulo eventually getting caught and finished in dominating fashion.
Immediately following the statement victory, Izzy went on to hump the challenger as he laid on the floor dazed. While completely disrespectful, these antics will surely rile up his base, while also angering those who dislike him, which in a sport defined by purchasing power is equally important. Whether you pay to watch the man win, or pay to watch the man lose, the money will look the same.
Izzy doubled-down with the insult as he went on to breakdance in the cage while Costa was still sitting in pain.
His signature post-fight dancing adds excitement, flare and continues a tradition for his personal brand. Despite the fact that there are many who dislike the flamboyant celebrations, this is a recipe for superstardom, assuming he isn’t already at that point.
With two signature wins in Costa and Whittaker, one can’t help themselves but to ask what is next for Izzy? With a Mixed Martial Arts record of 20-0, the undefeated champ is starting to hear those comparisons to Anderson Silva. While he has a ways to go, this is the type of hype that is great for the UFC.
There are so many fights out there that are exciting and if he can string along a Silva-esque run of title defenses, the Middleweight division will be in great hands for a while.
Given how easily he has discarded the current top contenders in the division however, could we see a move to Light Heavyweight sooner rather than later?
While I believe Izzy will stick in his class for the immediate future and take on the winner of UFC 254’s co-main, Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier, there are always new possibilities to take advantage of.
Speaking of new possibilities, we now have a new Light Heavyweight champ in Jan Blachowicz, who scored a destructive second round TKO of Dominick Reyes.
With Jon Jones out of the picture, currently building his weight for a Heavyweight debut, Jan took advantage of the opportunity and snatched the vacant belt. He dominated Reyes with lead left kicks and left a lasting imprint on Dominick’s rib cage.
He took advantage of his opponent as he was limited in mobility and finished him in dominating fashion. This was a feel good moment for Jan and UFC fans as he extended his most recent run to 8-1 in his last nine fights, which followed a stretch where he was 1-4 immediately before this.
That one loss was to Thiago Santos and there is a prime opportunity for a possible rematch if Santos can defeat Glover Teixeira in their November 7th fight, assuming there are no more COVID-related delays.
Until then, the thirty-seven year old can celebrate his victory and study his two possible opponents for his first title defense.
UFC 253 once again gave us a great show. The two second-round finishes left no doubt in our mind who the better man was and we now have two respective bouts to look forward to as we wait and see who their next challengers will be.
