Israel Adesanya has suffered his first career loss after he was defeated by Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 in Las Vegas on Saturday night, March 6.
The New Zealand-Nigerian middleweight champion was bidding to become the fifth fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously after a 20 – 0 record.
In the fight, Adesanya showed a clear speed advantage against Jan Blachowicz. But Polish light-heavyweight took control during the final two rounds and defended his title via unanimous decision to claim victory. All three officials awarded the bout his way, 49-46, 49-45, and 49-45.
“Losses are part of life. Losses are something I deal with occasionally,” Adesanya told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the post-fight news conference. “Just this is my first one in MMA. As I say, it is what it is. If I was going to lose to anyone, what better guy to lose to than a guy like Jan?
“(He’s) a classy champion, a cool dude, a very nice guy – a guy who has a great story in himself. On his way to getting cut from the company, comes back and then dominates and becomes the light heavyweight champion and then hands this guy, a future legend, his first loss. Yeah, if I was going to lose to anyone, I’m glad I lost to him.”
“ I have no regrets,” Adesanya said. “Like I said, I don’t know. I feel like the boxing model has made it a bad thing to lose. Yeah, it sucks losing. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s not like the end of the world. Like I said, I’ve lost before in the past. … Right now, me and my team, we’re just excited to get home and work on certain little details.”
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