Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski have bet on Robbie Lawler's clash with Bryan Barbarena and the loser will have to drink beer from the winner's shoe.
Adesanya and Volkanovski will both fight on this weekend's bumper UFC 276 bill with Volkanovski taking on Max Holloway in a trilogy bout in the night's co-feature bout. 'Style Bender' will then defend his middleweight title against Jarod Cannonier, as he looks to continue his revived winning streak.
Also on the card Robbie Lawler will return to action when he takes on Bryan Barbarena in a welterweight meeting on the card. Adesanya and Volkanovski decided they would make a bet during a YouTube video previewing the card, with Adesanya starting: "Let me go Barbarena because of that last fight and he showed me something I have never seen before. Based on Robbie I will go Barbarena."
The pair then proposed that Volkanovski would back Lawler and the loser would drink from the winners shoe. Adesanya then spat on his hand jokingly and the pair shook hands on the bet. It will be Lawler's latest battle since defeating and retiring infamous star Nick Diaz last year.
Volkanovski will look to retain his title once again in a trilogy battle with Holloway, having defeated his rival two times previously back in 2019 and 2020. A win will keep him on course in an undefeated UFC career to date with several challengers brushed aside by the sensational Australian.
The pair have been sparring together ahead of their respective title fights and showed tremendous ability during their technical session despite being three weight classes part. Adesanya is predicting an equally difficult night for Holloway in the co-feature bout, and believes his tendency to lower his defence could be a route to victory once again for Volkanovski.
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"I feel like this guy gets touched up too much," he said during the video. "He gets touched up too much and he likes to bang. These guys, they have to [protect the chin because] it crumbles at some point. This does not last forever, you have to be into, What did you say today? The best thing you said in training today is the best fighters in the world have the best defence."
Shortly after the final bell in the featherweight clash, Adesanya will look to make a fifth consecutive defence of his middleweight strap against game challenger Cannonier. S everal challengers could wait in the wings if he progresses including Sean Strickland and a rematch with Alex Pereira.
The Nigerian star already has his eyes set on a meeting with Pereira and plans to put his gloves through him after a planned beating of Cannonier. “This isn’t kickboxing, this is mixed martial arts,” Adesanya said. “These ain’t big pillow gloves, these are four ounce deadly weapons that I can’t wait to drive through his face after I go through Jared Cannonier.”
