Anderson Silva Has Issued Some Words of Warning to the Young Upstart Israel Adesanya… ‘The Last Stylebender’ Has Gone Back and Forth With Jon Jones Over the Past Week… Now Silva Has Called Stylebender Out for Being Disrespectful…
The whole world is out there now for Israel Adesanya. The Nigerian-New Zealander is the new interim middleweight champion and is being so heavily pushed by the UFC that you’d forget Robert Whittaker even exists. ‘Stylebender’ can’t afford to do that, but it’s definitely fair to enjoy the moment.
He’s made headlines over the last week after going back and forth with Jon Jones on social media. You can blame TMZ for creating this beef because they put him on the spot asking if he would like to fight the man widely regarded as the ‘GOAT’ (asterisk).
Now Anderson Silva has got involved. Adesanya’s former opponent has called out the 29-year-old for showing disrespect to his fellow athlete. Read on to see his remarkable statement.
Opening the 5th gate in my Avatar state #godmode ✊🏿
"I was willing to die, so I was willing to kill."#player1 #realninjashit #humananimal 🦄💫 pic.twitter.com/fGJHpquzdI— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) April 17, 2019
Disrespect
Silva and Adesanya fought back in February, in an enthralling striking contest. It was like watching a martial arts move, with both men having their moments in the fight. Now Silva has commented on the growing beef between Jones and his former opponent.
“The way I see it, as an athlete, he disrespected Jon Jones,” Silva told reporters, in Brazil. “I think for the business, for Dana, it’s great. It’s great business for the UFC. Regardless of whether they fight or not, the UFC wins – and the fans. But there is a lack of respect. I think he crossed the line a bit.”
Honour
The Brazilian legend – widely regarded as the greatest UFC middleweight of all time – believes that fighters should demonstrate honour and respect in their interactions with each other. ‘The Spider’ thinks that a martial artist should act in a certain way, that in this era of trash talk we don’t see enough.
“With time, he’ll learn how to deal with those things,” Silva said. “I think he has to respect everything Jon Jones has done. It’s two great fighters. In the future, who knows – they might fight. But I’m from a time when you have honour. You respect everyone’s space. And that’s my opinion.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XRIVgivHQQ
Rivalry
You could also argue that by testing positive for banned substances multiple times, Anderson Silva and Jon Jones have done more to disrespect their fellow athletes than Adesanya who actually didn’t start this beef. It was Jones who initially commented on how Adesanya could be a potential opponent when he was speaking in a press conference a few months ago.
It also makes smart business sense for the two of them to be at each other’s throats. Even if they don’t end up fighting – which would probably end badly for the smaller Adesanya – their names are now associated with each other and that’s good for self-promotion and generating interest from the fans.
If Adesanya can beat Whittaker – and that’s a massive if – then superstardom awaits for the New Zealander.
