While Israel Adesanya is contemplating whom he would like to share the Octagon with next, there is a ranked middleweight who is vying for his attention. Derek Brunson has ramped up his efforts into luring Adesanya to the cage, this time, publishing a video on Twitter where he provided a date, venue, and was also sure to disclose his specific intentions going into the potential bout:
“Listen here, you run your mouth a lot,” Brunson began. “You talk a lot. You mentioned my name a couple times. Now, I’m mentioning your name, boy. November the 3rd, Madison Square Garden, UFC 230, pull up. Embarrassment party. I’m gonna embarrass you, boy. You talk too much.”
UFC 230 is already a festival of middleweights, with recent bouts in the division being announced for the division including Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold, Yoel Romero vs. Paulo Costa, and Jacare Souza vs. David Branch. That is five of the top seven ranked middleweights in the company. The addition of Brunson vs. Adesanya would make it six out of seven. Adesayna has recently floated the idea of facing Anderson Silva, but Silva could not very well express interest in the bout without knowledge of who Adesanya is:
“I don’t know this name, this guy,” Silva told CBS Sports in reference to Adesanya. “I don’t know who is this guy. I’m so sorry, but I don’t know. I’ll go check.”
Meanwhile, Derek Brunson knows exactly who Israel Adesanya is. And although Adesanya’s name has more buzz of the two fighters, it is still an opportunity for Adesanya to move up the rankings by potentially defeating an opponent three spots ahead of him, as Brunson sits at #6 while Adesanya is currently ranked #9.
Do you think Israel Adesanya should accept Derek Brunson’s challenge?
