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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Ben Davies

Israel Adesanya falls asleep during UFC fight despite labelling it "high-level"

Israel Adesanya fell asleep while watching Petr Yan's "high-level" defeat to Merab Dvalishvili.

Ex-UFC middleweight champion Adesanya is currently preparing for his next octagon outing when he will target immediate redemption against Alex Pereira at UFC 287 on April 9. The Nigerian star has become one of the most well-respected names on the UFC roster, and he regularly shows himself reacting to fights on his YouTube channel.

This time, Adesanya reacted to the bantamweight clash between ex-leading contender Yan and Dvalishvilli as part of the UFC's latest fight night. Yan was surprisingly beaten in the five-round contest which saw hope of him renewing his challenge to champion Ajamain Sterling fade significantly.

During the fight Adesanya was full of praise for both men on his YouTube video, suggesting: “High level. Oh, so good, the level changed; look at the balance. “F***, high pace man, high level. Took around five." However just minutes later, the Nigerian began hinting that he was open to taking a nap.

With the decision close to being announced, Adesanya began to slide down his sofa with his eyes becoming increasingly more closed. Within minutes he then fell asleep while the decision was being announced that Dvalishvili had been crowned the winner over the Russian.

This is not the first time that the middleweight star has filmed himself falling sleep while watching a UFC fight, after catching flies during the female clash between Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza. He labelled the clash as the "most boring ever" which was replicated by UFC fans following the final bell.

What did you make of Petr Yan's loss to Merab Dvalishvili? Let us know in the comments section below

However this was often a criticism of Adesanya who has failed to win by stoppage himself in several fights, with many suggesting they would refuse to pay to watch him prior to his loss to Pereira. And 'The Last Stylebender' has admitted he was extremely upset when fans began to turn on him after he outpointed Yoel Romero in a UFC title defence.

"The Romero thing, that was the worst," Adesanya explained when discussing his recent relationship with UFC fans on his YouTube channel. "Just the narrative and the voices that were loud. Probably the minority but they're the loudest voices, the eat a** c***. So that's why I went into the Costa fight just free like I'm going to show you what's up.

"After that fight with Romero I was like 'But I was fighting, he was just standing there! Why are you blaming me?' ... That was the first time I was kind of like 'Eugh,' the fans turned on me in a way. I was like wait, what, now they say I'm s***? Like, did you not watch the fight before that? The one before before that? And that's why in that Costa fight I had the chip on my shoulder and I was just like 'Watch this'."

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