Holland: Adesanya Is A ‘True Loser’

Israel Adesanya came up short in his bid to dethrone current Light Heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259, losing via unanimous decision. It was a valiant effort from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight king, but becoming the promotion’s next “champ-champ” will have to wait for another day.

Naturally, Jon Jones didn’t miss the opportunity to pour a little salt on “Izzy’s” wounds, and Kevin Holland isn’t going to let it pass him by, either.

“He said he didn’t try to put on weight, but I think he put on weight. He may have come in at 200 pounds, I think he did a normal weight cut which was smart. That’s the smart thing to do, take it like your normally would take it,” said Holland during a recent UFC Vegas 22 pre-fight presser.

In Holland’s assessment, “The Last Stylebender” seemed a step or two slower. Regardless, “Trail Blazer” says the bottom line is that the 185-pound champion got beat in every aspect of the fight game.

“He looked a little slower than he normally does. Usually he is faster than that, he didn’t look as fast. Am I wrong? I could be right here, right? He didn’t look as fast as he normally does. He got beat in the striking aspect, he got beat in the grappling aspect, he got beat,” he added.

“In a lot of other sports if you are the champ and you lose, you are no longer the champ. Granted he moved up a weight class, but the dude lost. Is there any other fighters right now that has done just about every combat sport and lost in every combat sport. Is there? So I guess you can say he’s a true loser.”

Currently ranked No. 10 at 185 pounds, Holland can take a big leap up the ladder and closer to a possible title shot against Adesnaya if he can defeat Derek Brunson this Sat (March 20) at UFC Vegas 22 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If and when that happens, you know the back-and-forth between them in the leadup to the bout will be nothing short of epic.