Israel Adesanya and Alex Perreira are expected to settle their long-standing rivalry at Madison Square Garden in less than a week! Their paths will cross once again on November 13th, as has been their destiny.
Speaking to the UFC media for ‘UFC Countdown’ ahead of his title fight, ‘Izzy’ paid a touching tribute to the godfather of MMA, Bruce Lee.
However, he went on to add it was Hollywood sensation Jackie Chan who inspired him to assert his footprint in the sport.
Adesanya stated-
“Bruce Lee is the godfather of MMA, but for me, Jackie Chan was that guy. He was the one that when I used to watch him on movies, I’d be chucking, I’d be smiling, I’d be amazed at what he’s doing He’s the guy that got me into martial arts, and I took up Taekwondo at my primary school at the time.”
In thirty years of the sport’s existence, apart from the ‘Notorious’ Conor McGregor, not one single martial artist has paid the pair their flowers, until Israel Adesanya right now as well.
The impact of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan on martial arts!
Bruce Lee is widely regarded as the godfather of martial arts and rightfully so. During the 1960s, with boxing at its peak prominence, the concept of martial arts was extensively disregarded.
Up stepped Lee who laid the foundation for the meteoric rise of striking and martial arts in the mainstream media. His movies are a testament to just how much ahead of the sport’s time he was.
It would display his wide range of striking, amongst other weapons in his arsenal.
Just like Lee, Jackie Chan is a master of his craft. The 60-year-old has been a recognizable figure globally, for his breathtaking stunts, which involved a lot of emphasis on MMA.
For MMA to be where it is today, the hard work to propel the sport to garner the attention of mainstream media was undertaken by these two. The duo are in the most honorable sense of the word, pioneers of mixed martial arts!
Israel Adesanya: Will his reign continue?
Adesanya and Perriera have had a history dating back six years, when ‘The Last Stylebender’ was unsuccessful in his bid to defeat the Brazilian. His fortunes turned for the worse when he was knocked out stiff by ‘Poatan’ more than a year later.
The only man to stop Israel Adesanya is now in the UFC.
Alex Pereira knocked out the middleweight champ in the Stylebender’s last kickboxing match.
Poatan makes his MMA debut at UFC 268 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4qLis4dndm
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) September 9, 2021
The two will clash in a bout of high stakes, for the UFC Middleweight championship at UFC 281! ‘Izzy’ will finally be awarded an opportunity to right his wrongs, in the grandest stage of them all.
It’s a contest you will not want to miss.
