- Burna Boy’s Police Escorts Shoot Married Man After Singer Made Pass At Wife - June 12, 2022
- I’m Ashamed Of Ohanaeze, No Longer Believe In Body – Umahi Attacks Obiozor - June 12, 2022
- June 12: President Buhari’s Democracy Day Speech - June 12, 2022
Nigerian fighter, Israel Adesanya suffered his first career defeat in Las Vegas on Sunday against Jan Blachowicz by unanimous decision at UFC 259.
The result saw Blachowicz retain his light heavyweight title after he was awarded an upset unanimous decision victory.
The judges handed scores of 49-46, 49-45, and 49-45 in favour of the Polish champion.
The fight saw both fighters minimise mistakes in the first rounds as they struggled to find their balance but Blachowicz imposed himself in a leading position in the fourth and fifth rounds.
Adesanya had hoped to get the better of the legend as he targeted emerging the fifth fighter in UFC history to become a two-weight champion simultaneously.
The Nigerian fighter had faced Blachowicz, in a bid to add the polish champions’ light-heavyweight title to his middleweight championship honours.
In the build-up to the fight, Adesanya had dismissed Blachowicz’s perceived advantage in the areas of size, experience, and age.
The defeat meant the “Stylebender” has failed in his recent bid to join Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Henry Cejudo as one of the five fighters in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously.
The loss is Adesanya’s first in the UFC but the Nigerian-born New Zealander says the fight did not go according to plan.
He said, “I thought I was going to win. The fight didn’t go exactly the way it wanted to go.”
“The size did play a factor but I could have done better. This is not a one-off. I’m definitely going to come back.
“I dared to be great and now I go back to the middleweight and rule it with an iron fist.”
An elated Blachowicz lauded Adesanya’s technique but said he would have loved to knock out the middleweight champion.
He said, “If I had knocked him out it would have been better but he is a great fighter. I am very happy I handed him his first defeat.”
“He hit harder than I thought. He was a bit slower than I expected. He thought I was going to take him down earlier but I had to wait till he was tired.”
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.