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Israel Adesanya is quickly rising up to be one of the better analysts in the game. Ahead of UFC 269, he broke down the fight between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier.
He mentioned the champion's past issues regarding his mental strength. Thought that appears to be a thing of the past heading into UFC 269.
“I’ve always liked Charles Oliveira,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel via MiddleEasy. “I’ve always liked the style. He’s had some really horrible fights in the past few years. I feel like he’s quit a few times in the past. I feel like he’s quit like with the Cowboy (Cerrone) fight, where I felt like he could have still done some more. But you get to see someone like that almost go full circle and then become a champion. Now they’re where they belong, where they deserve to be.”
Israel Adesanya had some really nice things to say about Dustin Poirier ahead of UFC 269.
Article Continues Below“You have a guy like Dustin Poirier across the cage from you, who is a veteran, who is a tough dude. He’s improving his striking… especially his boxing. I’ve just seen him step up and step up. One thing I took away from his Dan hooker fight was his recovery. The way he recovered it. After that, I was really impressed. I was very impressed, his breathing and then his cardio, he put on after the, after that second round.”
Israel Adesanya finally took a look at the technical aspects of the matchup. It's safe to say we know both men's strengths heading into UFC 269.
“Charles on the ground is slick. So I’d advise Dustin not to go to the ground with him. I don’t know what kind of belt Dustin has or what his pedigree is in [BJJ]. Don’t go to the ground with Charles Olivera. I just feel like he’s too slick. Keeping it standing, Olivera still knows how to strike. Oliveira is still no joke. Look at the Michael Chandler fight. He got rocked in the beginning, held his composure. Didn’t get knocked out, came back in the second round, took his time. And it was a right hand left foot that he used to drop Michael Chandler. It was really slick.”
“So, Oliveira is no joke is with the striking. I feel like, of course he’s going to be improving, but I haven’t noticed this improvement as much as I’ve noticed Dustin’s (striking) improvements. He’s still a bit, flat-footed still plots forward sometimes and overthrows, but it works for him. Everyone’s style is different. This is art, so it works for him.”
So who is the champion going with at UFC 269?
“I do like Oliveira.” Adesanya added. “I like the story of his rags to riches story and I feel like it deserves to be in a position he’s in. But again, there’s Dustin… I look forward to a great show. It’s a great display of martial arts.”
