Despite having his next bout booked, Israel Adesanya is already looking forward.
Adesanya is scheduled to take on Brad Tavares in the main event of “The Ultimate Fighter” 27 Finale. It’ll be “The Last Stylebender’s” first headlining Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bout. He’ll be putting his perfect 13-0 professional mixed martial arts record on the line.
There has been much hype surrounding Adesanya. He was well respected in his kickboxing days, garnering a record of 26-5-2 with 24 knockouts. He competed for the Glory middleweight title, but fell short.
During a recent appearance on Flo Combat‘s “Top Turtle” podcast, Adesanya revealed the two fighters he’s looking to dance with next:
“I just want to fight the best, and they’re putting a tough test in front of me and I want to blow past this test, pass it with flying colors and keep moving on with my journey. I’m looking at everyone in that division. I already know who I want next. I wanna fight the winner of Uriah Hall and the Brazilian kid [Paulo Costa].”
Costa and Hall are set to do battle at UFC 226. The action will take place inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 7. Adesanya’s bout with Tavares takes place just one night before UFC 226. Adesanya vs. Tavares will be held inside Pearl Theatre.
Tavares isn’t likely to go down easily. He’s riding a four-fight winning streak. Tavares’ last defeat was at the hands of reigning UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. He is 12-4 inside the Octagon.
TUF 27 Finale will also feature a middleweight clash between Alessio Di Chirico and Julian Marquez, who earned his UFC contract through Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. Women’s flyweights Roxanne Modafferi and Barb Honchak will also go one-on-one. Matt Bessette hopes to have better luck in his second UFC outing when he meets Steven Peterson.
Is Israel Adesanya overlooking Brad Tavares?
