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Two of Africa’s ‘Three Kings’ boosting UFC profile are Nigerians!

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Israel Adesanya (Nigeria), Kamaru Usman (Nigeria) and Francis Ngannou (Cameroon) hold three of the eight men’s UFC belts

Africa’s ‘Three Kings’ are boosting the profile of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on the continent, says the organisation’s president.

Earlier this year, Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou joined Nigerian-born duo Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya in becoming a UFC champion.

Dana White says the trio are raising the profile of mixed martial arts on the continent in a similar fashion to how Ireland’s Conor McGregor, who first became UFC champion in 2015, boosted the sport in Europe.

“When Conor became champion in Ireland, it exploded in Europe and now with Usman, Adesanya and Ngannou, it’s blowing up in Africa,” White – who has led the UFC for the past two decades – told BBC Sport Africa.

The American promoter says he cannot wait for the coronavirus pandemic to ease so he can further develop plans to take UFC to the continent.

Since UFC 001 was held in the United States in 1993, events have been held in Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East – but never in Africa.

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“When everything gets back to normal, we can get over to Africa,” he added.

“I have a lot of plans in Africa, not just to fight over there, but to open a couple of performance institutes and start cultivating some talent from that.”

Performance institutes are similar to football or basketball academies, with White believing undiscovered talent can impress just as much as the likes of Adesanya, Ngannou and Usman in future.

“My goal is to get kids off the street and into the gym,” he said.

“The amount of unbelievable talent that’s going to come out of there is going to be insane. You have to have these guys that are hungry – and Africa is full of guys that are hungry.

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“Getting into the UFC is a new avenue where these guys think: ‘I can make millions of dollars, and can change not only my life but my family’s and some people from my hometown’.”

When beating American Tyron Woodley in March 2019 to claim the welterweight belt, Usman – who left Nigeria for the USA aged eight – became the first African champion in UFC.

Seven months later, he was followed by Adesanya, another Nigerian who left home for overseas – in his case New Zealand. The ‘King of the Middleweights’ knocked out Australia’s Robert Whittaker to claim the title.

Earlier this year, Ngannou became a heavyweight UFC champion as the Cameroonian knocked out another American Stipe Miocic.

The 35-year-old is now set to take on France’s Ciryl Gane, with White saying the fight will ‘probably’ happen in the first quarter of 2022.

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‘Time to start paying respect’

Of all the so-called ‘Three Kings’, White gave particular praise to Usman, calling the 34-year-old the finest in his weight category since the sport began.

Last week, Usman was named the sport’s number one pound-for-pound fighter by the UFC, replacing American Jon Jones.

“Right now, Kamaru Usman is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world,” agreed White, before he added: “He is the greatest welterweight champion of all time.”

Such views will divide opinion in the world of mixed martial arts, given that Georges St-Pierre, a now-retired three-time UFC welterweight champion, is considered by many as the best in history.

“[He’s beaten] Gilbert Burns, Colby Covington, Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia, Leon Edwards and Sean Strickland. It’s time to start paying Kamaru the respect he deserves.”

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Umaru will put his welterweight belt on the line again next month when he faces American Colby Covington in a rematch at UFC 268.

In contrast to Usman, Adesanya, 32, is undefeated in middleweight.

“He came from a kickboxing background so you’d have imagined that wrestling was going to be a big problem for him, but he’s undefeated at middleweight,” White said.

“He burst onto the scene and has accomplished some incredible things. He’s a good-looking kid who speaks well – very brash, but very likeable.”

White also praised the enormous power that Ngannou – who travelled to Europe as a migrant after overcoming enormous challenges – is able to generate.

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“It’s unbelievable when you look at the punching power that guy has – if he catches you, you’re going to sleep,” he added.

The Canadian finished his career in 2017 with a record of 26 wins and two losses from his 28 fights, with Usman currently standing at just the one loss from 20 fights.

Earlier this year, Usman – aka ‘the Nigerian Nightmare’ – beat St-Pierre’s record of 13 straight wins in the division, beating high-calibre opponents along the way.

“If you look at what this guy’s accomplished, he is undefeated now in 14, the longest win streak in UFC welterweight history,” said White.

“How about the highest defence in UFC history? The guy has spent zero time on his back.

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-BBC

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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UFC

BREAKING! Israel Adesanya loses to Dricus du Plessis

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 Israel Adesanya early Sunday morning lost to Dricus du Plessis of South Africa in the main event of UFC 305 in a grudge match in Perth, Australia. The Nigerian, a two-time former champion, was attempting to regain the middleweight title.

He however lost in the fourth round via submission.  A disappointed Adesanya declared that he was not going to retire after the loss.

Adesanya said he was disappointed, that this was the best he’s ever felt and he just lost to the better man on the night. Then he talked about possibly retiring, saying he hasn’t thought about it. Then he puts Perth over and says “I’m not f*cking leaving!”

Du Plessis also offered some words of encouragement to Adesanya, who later applauds the South African’s win.

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UFC

Adesanya loses UFC middleweight crown to underdog!

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American Sean Strickland celebrates defeating Nigerian-born New Zealander Israel Adesanya to claim the middleweight title by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 293 in Sydney, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)

Underdog Sean Strickland pulled off a stunning upset to defeat Israel Adesanya and claim the UFC middleweight title at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday, winning by unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards after an enthralling five-round battle.

American Strickland taunted Adesanya in the closing seconds of the final frame, confident of victory after 25 minutes of stalking his opponent, defending brilliantly and using his boxing to force Adesanya to fight off the back foot.

Adesanya, who has ruled the roost as middleweight champ for most of the last four years, failed to find a way to break Strickland down and the 34-year-old Nigerian was caught several times by stiff jabs from Strickland that slowed him down.

“Oh my God, literally never in a million years did I thought I’d be here,” Strickland said in an interview in the cage after UFC president Dana White wrapped the championship belt around his waist.

After giving him a hostile reception on his way to the octagon and cheering for Adesanya, who grew up in neighbouring New Zealand, throughout, the crowd hailed the new champion for his gutsy performance.

“The majority of my friends he’s beaten pretty easily, so I was even kind of doubting myself, but I’ve gotta say to the fans, you guys motivated me,” Strickland said.

Strickland set the course for victory with a thunderous right hand at the end of the first round, almost securing a knockout, and though Adesanya managed to make it to the break, he never really got going again after that.

Known for his creative striking, the Nigerian-born Adesanya became increasingly desperate as the fight wore on and he won only one of the five rounds, with the three judges awarding the rest to Strickland on identical 49-46 scorecards.

-Reuters

 

 

 

 

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Another Nigerian battle in Australia as Israel Adesanya stakes middleweight title against Sean Strickland in Sydney

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Adesanya defeated Alex Pereira in April to become a two-time UFC middleweight champion.

Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia on 10 September.

Adesanya, 34, last fought in April, beating long-term rival Alex Pereira to regain the belt he had lost five months earlier.

The Nigerian-born New Zealander was set to fight Dricus du Plessis next but the South African is injured.

American Strickland, 32, will be competing in his first UFC title fight.

He stepped up a division on short notice to beat Nassourdine Imavov in January before knocking out Abusupiyan Magomedov in July.

Meanwhile, UFC president Dana White has confirmed Conor McGregor’s next opponent will “definitely” be Michael Chandler.

Ireland’s McGregor tweeted last week calling for a bout with Justin Gaethje, who defeated Dustin Poirier at UFC 291, casting doubt on the matchup with Chandler.

McGregor and Chandler have been opposing coaches on the UFC’s reality television series, The Ultimate Fighter, this year.

“I talked to Conor, either yesterday or the day before, and yeah, he’s ready to fight,” said White.

“Listen, get in shape and let’s figure this out.

“[It’s] definitely Chandler. Conor likes to [mess] with everybody – especially his opponent, or possible opponents.”

-BBC

 

 

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