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Israel Adesanya has been linked with Kamaru Usman for many reasons. Both men are UFC champions, originally from Nigeria, and they have been asked about fighting each other in the future.
Kamaru Usman's manager recently did an interview with TMZ where he said he wanted the two to fight and that they weren't that close. Israel Adesanya was asked about it ahead of UFC 271.
Article Continues Below“Kamaru can speak for himself and he has, and I’ve spoken for myself and we said we wouldn’t fight each other,” Adesanya told TSN. “For me personally, it’s bigger than money. Also, I have nothing to gain. It’s the guy coming up from a lower weight class that looks to challenge himself that’s almost the protagonist of the story. That gets to rise to the occasion and that’s cool, but Kamaru’s not interested.
“Ali is just greedy. He sees dollar signs, but I’m like you can make that money elsewhere. But he’s just super greedy and for me, it’s bigger than money. If I was gonna do this shit for money and retire, I would have retired three fights ago. I’m set, but nah, it’s bigger than money. It’s just about legacy.”
Israel Adesanya is very proud of his African roots and represents the first wave of African UFC champions. He'd love to train with Kamaru Usman but not fight him in the cage.
“I’m still looking to capture that image of me, Kamaru and Francis as the three kings because we haven’t done that yet together,” Adesanya said.
He continued, “I understand what Kamaru says about competing because yeah we could do that. Come to the gym you’ll see me and Dan Hooker, me and Carlos Ulberg, me and Blood Diamond compete against each other. So me and Kamaru can do that, but for the world to see, it’s bigger than money. It’s not just about money. It’s about our nation, taking gold back to where it belongs.”
