The fallout from Saturday’s lackluster, and widely panned fight between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero continues. But, according to Daniel Cormier, UFC 248 isn’t going to adversely impact the legacy of the undefeated, middleweight champ.
Cormier says Adesanya’s legacy will be fine
If you didn’t see last weekend’s UFC 248 card, chances are you’ve already heard plenty, about how the main event failed to deliver on the hype. For much of the bout, Romero fought extremely conservatively and he looked to counter. Since he did tag Adesanya with a hard shot early on, the champ largely fought from the outside. “The Last Stylebender” was the more active of the two, however, and he emerged with the decision win.
Well, much of the blame for what went down has been directed at Romero (Dana White called his performance “terrible”). But, since Adesanya is one of the fastest rising commodities in the game, and because he has a rep for being a highlight reel striker, some are wondering whether his star power could take a hit. But, while speaking to Rich Eisen since the bout, Cormier said this (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I don’t [blame Adesanya for the lackluster fight],” Cormier said. “When you fight Yoel Romero, a guy that has knocked out so many people, a guy that has really fought in that same exact way but finds ways to end fights with one action, you cannot think that Izzy would just go in there and be reckless. I’ve never seen anyone do it. He did what he had to do. This guy’s the champion. He’s a guy that if you’re willing to engage, he’ll give you your type of fight. But Yoel Romero’s not a guy that you want to be out there being reckless with. He’s just too dangerous. The risk is not worth the danger.”
“I think that he can be as big a star as you have in the UFC,” Cormier said. “Some guys just have it. Like you said, it just radiates off of him. You just see it. From the moment he walks to the octagon, he officially marked his territory. You saw a young kid who had never done anything, become a champion in like a year. That doesn’t happen very often in the UFC and I think this was just one of those nights. Anderson Silva, it did not really affect his legacy having that fight in Saudi Arabia and I think that’s going to be the case with Izzy. He’s just going to move forward and his next fight is guaranteed to deliver because the guy he’s fighting, Paulo Costa, has never been in a fight like you saw Izzy have last week.”
Is Cormier right?
The Anderson Silva fight Cormier’s referring to was his 2010 bout with Demian Maia, which actually took place in Abu Dhabi. The fight was a disaster, as Silva looked to counter and Maia wasn’t keen on trading with the legend for much of it. It is true that Silva went on to score more big wins, and his status as one of the all-time greats remains.
So, if Adesanya goes on to record some impressive wins moving forward, and it’s very likely he will, it is hard to imagine his drawing power is going to be reduced much because of UFC 248. Cormier’s right: Adesanya has that ‘it’ factor. Adesanya is expected to face Paulo Costa next, and it’s hard to imagine that fight not delivering.