Israel Adesanya reacts following loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259

Israel Adesanya was hoping to become a two-division champion when he squared off with Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC 259.

‘Stylebender’ had entered tonight’s highly anticipated headliner sporting a perfect professional record of 20-0, his latest being a second round TKO victory over Paulo Costa at UFC 253.

Due his undefeated record and convincing wins inside the Octagon, Israel Adesanya was dubbed the favorite to defeat Jan Blachowicz this evening in Las Vegas.

Blachowicz (28-8 MMA) was no stranger to the under label, having served as the betting dog in six of his past seven fights.

The Polish standout was once again able to prove oddsmakers wrong this evening. After Israel Adesanya opened the fight with a strong first round, Blachowicz slowly began to turn the contest in his favor. By rounds four and five, Jan was seemingly dominating ‘Izzy’ on the ground, this while sneaking in some good punches.

After twenty-five minutes of fun action it was clear to most watching that Jan Blachowicz had done enough to get his hand raised. The judges in attendance agreed and the Polish star was awarded a unanimous decision victory.

Immediately following his first career loss, Israel Adesanya spoke with UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

“No, no, not exactly because I thought I was going to win,” Adesanya said when asked if his UFC 259 title bout with Blachowicz played out as he expected. “But you, I couldn’t sleep last night so instead of doing wines I was doing lines so I could stay up. Then Bruce Buffer just handed me one of these (showcasing a bottle) so I probably should have had one of these, then I would have slept better. So yeah, it didn’t go exactly the way I wanted it to go but dare to be great. To the critics, your the ones on the sidelines but I’m the one putting it on the line.”

When asked if the weight difference played a factor Israel Adesanya responded with the following statement.

“Never. Never. That was just my legs being fatigued. I don’t know what from but I will have to watch the tape. I knew what to do and I just didn’t do it. Size did play a factor but my technique could have been a lot finer.”

Who would you like to see Israel Adesanya fight next following his first career setback at tonight’s UFC 259 event?