Footage of Israel Adesanya bursting into tears after making his UFC debut has gone viral ahead of the first defence of his middleweight title.
The ‘Last Stylebender’ defends his 185lbs title against the fearsome Yoel Romero at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night at UFC 248.
Despite Romero’s intimidating physical stature, incredible wrestling background and the reluctance from fellow contenders to face the Cuban, Adesanya made sure to call out the boogeyman of the middleweight division to define his legacy.
Ariel Helwani (Twitter)
Israel Adesanya burst into tears after winning on his UFC debut in 2018
The 30-year-old’s journey has accelerated at an incredible pace since he first stepped foot into the octagon on February 10 in 2018 against Rob Wilkinson.
Despite the American’s insistence on getting the fight to the canvas and testing out the ground game of the former world kickboxing champion, Adesanya eventually found his rhythm as he has done in every single one of his 18 fights thus far.
After landing uppercuts and knees for fun, the fight was waved off and the Nigerian-New Zealander told the rest of the middleweight division there was a ‘new dog’ in the yard.
Despite the flashy techniques on display and the confident statement afterwards, footage has since emerged of Adesanya bursting into tears after the fight as he walked away from the octagon alongside coach Eugene Bareman.
The City Kickboxing head coach, who also helped Alex Volkanovski achieve his UFC world title dreams, could not help but smile with pride as his star pupil talked through the fight with him.
Regardless of what happens on Saturday night and indeed beyond for Adesanya, the slick striker will have this moment in history forever.
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