00:00:00
at one point in his career Israel Adisa
00:00:02
was on a hot UFC winning streak with two
00:00:05
title defenses to his name and potential
00:00:08
double champ and goat status up for
00:00:10
grabs I think he's the greatest
00:00:11
middleweight champion of all time Israel
00:00:13
adna the middleweight champion of the
00:00:15
world for a bloody reason but neither
00:00:17
could he win two belts no regrets no
00:00:21
regrets nor could he reach goat status
00:00:24
at middleweight all because of a few
00:00:26
nasty men who left Izzy Frozen like Elsa
00:00:29
I'm going to leave you Frozen like Elsa
00:00:30
oh yeah freeze like
00:00:33
Elsa ah freeze like
00:00:38
Elsa Izzy's first reality check came
00:00:41
right after he rose to Heights of
00:00:42
success in the UFC by knocking out
00:00:45
Robert Whitaker to win the middleweight
00:00:46
belt and defend it twice against yor
00:00:48
Romero and Paulo Costa normally two
00:00:51
title defenses wouldn't be enough to
00:00:53
earn a shot at a second belt but by that
00:00:55
point Izzy's popularity was off the
00:00:57
charts the UFC couldn't resist the hype
00:01:00
and set up a super fight with UFC light
00:01:02
heavyweight champion Yan blacko giving
00:01:05
Adisa a chance to chase double champ
00:01:07
status it's a very elite exclusive club
00:01:11
and I'm going to be the fifth one to
00:01:13
join that club Not only was Izzy a heavy
00:01:15
favorite but he was also oozing with
00:01:17
confidence heading into UFC 259 as long
00:01:20
as he doesn't land that one punch you're
00:01:22
probably going to be okay not getting
00:01:24
touched this fight that's my plan not
00:01:25
getting touched like I did in the Costa
00:01:27
fight like I I didn't get touched in the
00:01:29
Costa fight but like I did in the cost
00:01:31
of fight cuz I didn't let him touch me
00:01:32
in the face at all so yeah make sure
00:01:34
don't get hit and watch out for that
00:01:36
body kick little did he know that he was
00:01:38
about to swallow a bitter pill when the
00:01:41
cage door closed at UFC 259 blackt used
00:01:45
his physical strength to his Advantage
00:01:47
by outg grappling a visibly undersized
00:01:50
Adisa the Polish Powerhouse even had big
00:01:53
moments on the feet and eventually won
00:01:56
by a comfortable decision to ruin Dane
00:01:58
and Izzy's big party bloi even had round
00:02:01
five a 10 to8 the scoring is insane
00:02:05
these guys are giving out 108 rounds
00:02:07
like [ __ ] the there were two rounds
00:02:09
in that fight that they gave a
00:02:12
108 now now when I came up in the fight
00:02:15
business a 108 was an ass whooping you
00:02:18
got your ass
00:02:20
whooped you didn't do [ __ ] in that round
00:02:22
and got beat down if it was a 108 this
00:02:25
they got to stop giving this this this
00:02:27
108 shit's out of control right now
00:02:31
back at middleweight Adisa continued to
00:02:33
rule with an iron fist taking out
00:02:36
world-class contenders with ease from
00:02:38
the summer of 2021 to the summer of 2022
00:02:42
Adisa defeated three sturdy contenders
00:02:45
in the form of Marvin vitori Robert
00:02:47
Whitaker and Jared caner in the same
00:02:50
time frame Adis Anna's Nemesis Alex
00:02:53
Pereira had entered the UFC and won
00:02:55
three fights most notably against sha
00:02:57
Strickland by a devastating knockout
00:02:59
count problem with Alex he hits really
00:03:01
hard three wins are hardly ever enough
00:03:04
to earn a title shot in the UFC but
00:03:06
pereira's situation was unique he
00:03:08
already had two massive victories over
00:03:10
Adisa in kickboxing including a knockout
00:03:13
that would go down as one of the iconic
00:03:15
moments in Combat Sports
00:03:18
[Applause]
00:03:23
history given the intense history
00:03:25
between the two the UFC naturally booked
00:03:27
their Showdown for UFC 281
00:03:30
leading up to the fight Adisa voiced his
00:03:33
frustrations arguing that Pereira was
00:03:35
getting a title shot purely because of
00:03:37
their past encounters and that on paper
00:03:39
Pereira didn't deserve the opportunity
00:03:41
earned did you earn the position that's
00:03:43
the everyone says deserve the did you
00:03:45
earn it people say I don't deserve this
00:03:46
[ __ ] they say oh he doesn't deserve this
00:03:48
he doesn't deserve to have all these
00:03:49
money all this accolades and whatnot I'm
00:03:51
like you I earned the sh earn I don't
00:03:53
think he's earned it to be honest Adisa
00:03:56
even dropped his iconic line about
00:03:57
leaving Pereira Frozen like Elsa
00:04:00
trust me he knows I put him on skates
00:04:02
last time and this time when I put you
00:04:04
on skates I'm going to leave you Frozen
00:04:05
like Elsa the tables however turned
00:04:08
badly on the champion at UFC 281 Izzy
00:04:12
drew first blood by badly rattling
00:04:14
Pereira in the first round but the
00:04:16
Brazilian was Saved by the Bell Pereira
00:04:19
had a better second round as he started
00:04:21
to push the pace and land shots in
00:04:23
rounds three and four adna relied
00:04:25
heavily on wrestling to neutralize
00:04:28
pereira's threat on the feet by round
00:04:30
five Adisa was leading the scorecards
00:04:33
and Pereira only had a punchers chance
00:04:35
which was enough just 2 minutes into the
00:04:38
fifth round Pereira pushed Adisa against
00:04:40
the cage and blasted him with his
00:04:42
trademark left hooks to leave the champ
00:04:45
Frozen like Elsa Pereira was over the
00:04:47
moon for having secured a third win over
00:04:50
his blood rival sh
00:04:52
[Music]
00:04:57
sh Izzy however promised to come back
00:04:59
back 6 months later Adisa put his money
00:05:02
where his mouth was and knocked out
00:05:04
Pereira to reclaim his title at UFC
00:05:07
287 right after that there were Whispers
00:05:10
of a Trilogy between the two but those
00:05:12
talks quickly fizzled out when Pereira
00:05:14
made the jump to light heavyweight adna
00:05:17
then turned his attention towards other
00:05:18
middleweight contenders particularly
00:05:20
South Africa's drus dupi who had said
00:05:23
mean things about African UFC Champions
00:05:25
like Adisa kamaru Usman and Francis
00:05:28
enanu claiming that they were not real
00:05:31
African kings because they don't live
00:05:33
and train in the continent did those
00:05:35
bels ever go to Africa as far as I know
00:05:37
it came to America and New Zealand I'm
00:05:40
going to take it about to Africa Adisa
00:05:43
was clearly upset because of the blatant
00:05:45
disrespect and he wanted to drag ddps
00:05:47
carcass across South Africa I will
00:05:49
gladly drag his carcass across South
00:05:52
Africa the UFC even offered DDP a fight
00:05:55
against adna at UFC 293 so that they
00:05:59
could settle beef but dupi refused to
00:06:01
sign the dotted line because he wanted
00:06:03
more time Adisa wanted to fight at UFC
00:06:06
293 regardless a mistake he most
00:06:10
certainly regrets to this day with DDP
00:06:13
out of the equation sha Strickland came
00:06:15
in like a wrecking ball rattling ad asna
00:06:18
with his unfiltered trash talking in
00:06:20
Antics hey you know what you know what
00:06:22
man the moment I post a video of me
00:06:24
jerking off my [ __ ] dog they will they
00:06:27
will put some credibility to that
00:06:30
[ __ ] puppy porn man I had to double
00:06:33
check that sh just to make sure it was
00:06:36
legit Adisa entered the fight as a heavy
00:06:39
favorite but Strickland shocked the
00:06:41
World by dropping the champ in the first
00:06:42
round the last style Bender somhow
00:06:45
weathered that game-changing moment but
00:06:48
he couldn't regain his footing
00:06:50
Strickland capitalized on the momentum
00:06:52
ultimately cruising to a comfortable
00:06:54
decision victory that left fans stunned
00:06:57
and changed the narrative in the middle
00:06:59
division I'm sure there are probably
00:07:01
times in your career you never thought
00:07:02
this was going to happen right so to be
00:07:04
sitting up there with that belt tell me
00:07:06
about it I mean I'm pretty much over now
00:07:07
guys with two losses in three fights
00:07:10
Adisa decided it was time to take a step
00:07:13
back and recalibrate during his Hiatus
00:07:16
the title changed hands once again as
00:07:18
dupi edged out sha Strickland in a
00:07:21
closely contested decision at UFC 297
00:07:25
with DDP perched at the top of the
00:07:26
middleweight hierarchy Adisa saw it as
00:07:29
the perfect moment to make his return
00:07:31
leading the UFC to book the two for UFC
00:07:34
305 the Rivalry between them ignited a
00:07:37
firestorm of tension in the leadup to
00:07:39
the fight with dupi expertly ruffling
00:07:42
Adis Anna's feathers and even pushing
00:07:44
him to the brink of tears I do this for
00:07:46
my family I do this for the people I
00:07:48
love and I I will fight for you forever
00:07:50
I swear to God um watch this I'm look
00:07:55
I'm a [ __ ] human being I am a man I
00:07:56
can cry and whoop your ass at the same
00:07:58
time
00:08:00
um I feel the love from the crowd first
00:08:03
time I fought here 221 that was February
00:08:06
2018 that was me making my dream come
00:08:08
true Sunday I'm going to [ __ ] kill
00:08:10
your dreams [ __ ] I want toing kill your
00:08:12
dreams adna's emotional reaction to ddps
00:08:16
trash talking was a clear sign that the
00:08:18
former champ had gotten under his skin
00:08:20
and now it was time for Adisa to settle
00:08:23
the score inside the Octagon at UFC 305
00:08:27
the two men engaged in a closely
00:08:29
contested War each having their moments
00:08:32
to shine however it was dup plei who
00:08:35
delivered the most decisive blow rocking
00:08:37
Adisa late in the fourth round before
00:08:40
sinking in a choke that forced the champ
00:08:42
to tap adna's next UFC outing saw him
00:08:46
fighting a rising star in the form of
00:08:48
nasaden imof who was the underdog
00:08:51
heading into the fight based off your
00:08:53
reaction to the DDP fight at this point
00:08:56
are you more interested in performance
00:08:58
over victory you want to go in there and
00:09:00
fight the best of your abilities or is
00:09:01
it still I've got to win n just like
00:09:05
like I said highlights performance you
00:09:07
know being free cuz I know when I do
00:09:10
that it's always Victory imov who had
00:09:13
won three out of his four fights since
00:09:15
his lost to sha Strickland couldn't be
00:09:17
happier to land a career- changing fight
00:09:19
against Adisa when I got the the news I
00:09:22
was very happy I posted a picture on my
00:09:24
Instagram uh showing how happy I was and
00:09:27
uh right now I'm I can't wait for for
00:09:29
this fight to be happening imov was
00:09:32
happy because a win over adna was
00:09:34
obviously a ticket to a title shot of
00:09:36
course uh the main thing is going to get
00:09:38
me closer to my goal which is uh to
00:09:40
fight for the belt and so I'm very
00:09:43
excited about that beating Adisa however
00:09:45
was the main part and IM marov hit the
00:09:47
nail right on his head when the cage
00:09:50
door closed at UFC Saudi Arabia it
00:09:53
looked as if the Izzy of old was back
00:09:55
with his distance management and low
00:09:57
kicks working like a charm but early in
00:09:59
round two imov pressed forward and
00:10:02
launched a winging right hand that
00:10:04
toppled the former champ imov followed
00:10:06
up with ground and pound to earn the
00:10:09
biggest win of his career must be
00:10:10
excited beat a guy like me do you feel
00:10:12
it's one of those things where like he
00:10:14
got caught or is it one of those things
00:10:15
where hman age might be catching up to
00:10:17
him he might be slowing down which one
00:10:18
do you think it could be listen getting
00:10:20
caught is getting caught there's I mean
00:10:23
he's
00:10:24
35 um imaba is 28 years old he's in his
00:10:28
prime so those those were all of Israel
00:10:30
adna's losses in MMA can the last style
00:10:33
Bender Rise From the Ashes and mount a
00:10:35
triumphant comeback we'd love to hear
00:10:37
your thoughts in the comments and if you
00:10:39
enjoyed this video be sure to check out
00:10:41
our similar one on khil round tree
00:10:46
[Music]
