Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier had somewhat of a cordial relationship in the past, but that has strained significantly as their upcoming clash at UFC 276 approached, as Adesanya claims his friend-turned-foe has made things “personal”.
The reigning UFC Middleweight champ will be putting his title on the line for the fifth time against the 2nd ranked fighter in the division, Jared Cannonier, in the main event of UFC 276 heading for T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd.
Things changed when he started talking sh*t: Israel Adesanya
“Stylebender” recently had a rough social media interaction with Cannonier. On his Instagram, the latter recently shared a story targeting Adesanya with the following, “When you lose the belt it tastes like sh*t,” taken from Jan Blachowicz’s statement after losing to Glover Teixeira back in October. He tagged Adesanya and wrote, “Have you ever tried shit?”

Speaking on his official YouTube channel “FREESTYLEBENDER” regarding the fight, Adesanya revealed that he once had a smooth relationship with Cannonier in the past, until “Tha Killa Gorilla” switched it up and made things sour, which Adesanya took personally.
“(We’ve interacted) a little bit. I can’t remember what fight it was at. I was sitting like, a few rows in front of him. We’re cordial, we’re cool. But this fight, I’m not being cordial or cool,” said Adesanya.
“I used to follow him. We exchanged pleasantries online. He responded to a few of my stories. Things changed when he started talking sh*t. I took that personally,” the 185-pound champ went on, “I don’t know (why he switched up), man. These people always act different around me. It’s weird. I think it’s just because it’s me, they feel like they have to change what they do.”
“Just do what got you to the dance. Same advice I gave to Rob (Whittaker) before the first fight, just do what got you to the dance. Why are you trying to be Mr. funny guy? For me, this one I’m like, ‘Bet.’ That’s all I needed, and I was like, ‘Cool.’ I’m gonna use him as an example,” Adesanya added. [H/T MMANews.com]
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