0 
0 Israel Adesanya wasted no time in naming his next UFC opponent, pledging to leave Brazil’s Alex Pereira “frozen like Elsa”, when he was interviewed following his impressive win over Jared Cannonier.
Much like Alexander Volkanovski earlier on the card, Adesanya’s title defence looked like a foregone conclusion after the early rounds, and it did indeed end that way.
Two judges gave the third round to Cannonier, but the rest was all Adesanya, who retained his middleweight title via unanimous decision: 49-46, 49-46, 50-45.
AS IT HAPPENED: Re-live the action from UFC 276
READ MORE: Tennis star lashes ‘evil’ Kyrgios after Wimbledon clash
READ MORE: Aussie Opetaia wins world title with a broken jaw
READ MORE: Volkanovski retains title in dominant bloodbath
“One thing I was looking forward to was facing Jared as an opponent,” he said afterwards.
“But the second thing I was looking forward to was John Crouch versus Eugene Bareman.
“Two great coaches, two great teams, and I’ll tell you one thing; they had an excellent game plan. It was really hard to get my follow ups going, because they had a good game plan, and Jared has a fortitude in his mind.”
Adesanya immediately called out Pereira, who was impressive in his first round KO win over Sean Strickland.
Pereira brutalises Strickland
“Trust me, the first time I told you, it was an error on my part, spamming right hands – and that was in kickboxing.
“It’s easier to knock out homeboy, what’s the hillbilly’s name? Because he was parrying the jabs – but like I said at the press conference, next time I’ll put you on skates, you’re going to get frozen like Elsa.”
Adesanya’s middleweight career continues to be one of the most impressive by any fighter, at any weight class.
He has a perfect 12-0 record in the UFC at that level, his only defeat coming when he moved up to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the light-heavyweight belt.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
The backstories and controversies that have ignited feuds involving athletes
