Israel Adesanya was never going to ignore Derek Brunson's callout. The UFC middleweight champion loves going back-and-forth with the men in his division and this was no different.
Brunson submitted Darren Till in the third round of their main event fight on Saturday. Following the stoppage, Brunson went right up to the camera and called out the champion, repeatedly calling him “boy.”
Adesanya, in trademark fashion, took to Twitter shortly after and responded to Brunson. It's safe to say ‘Stylebender' was not impressed by the submission victory.
Calm down…boy.
You still a bum…son. pic.twitter.com/8LymB7PLm3— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) September 4, 2021
The two had previously fought in November 2018 with Israel Adesanya by TKO in the first round. The matchup came with a lot of expectations as many saw the fight as Adesanya's opportunity to prove himself.
Since the fight, both men have improved drastically and are at different points in their respective careers. Israel Adesanya is the reigning champion with the potential to break records; whilst Brunson has built an impressive streak and is looking for one last title shot.
Their original fight back in 2018 was filled with trash-talking as both men went back and forth constantly in the lead-up to their fight. Now it seems the pair are back on each other's radar and the trash-talk is back on.
Israel Adesanya is expected to defend his title in a rematch against former champion Robert Whittaker. Brunson prefers to sit out and wait for the title instead of taking another fight and potentially messing with his opportunity.
It will be interesting to see what happens next in the middleweight division with everything starting to take shape.
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