MMA / Sports

Israel Adesanya survives Drake curse with victory against Jared Cannonier

Nigerian-born New Zealand professional Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) Israel Mobolaji Adesanya was victorious against Jared Cannonier at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 276.

The 32-year-old Adesanya recorded a unanimous decision victory against Cannonier after five rounds in the octagon.

Adesanya the reigning UFC middleweight champion came into the fight with pressure as Canadian rapper, singer, and actor Aubrey Drake Graham made a huge bet on him to win.

Drake bet one million dollars that Adesanya would win and even had a face time with him a day before the fight.

Adesanya showed no signs of pressure as he came into the fight with the theme song of popular wrestler the Undertaker.

At the octagon at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Adesanya established his dominance from the start to put Cannonier on the back foot.

His tactics resulted into a convincing victory despite a late combination of hits by Cannonier.

After the fight, it was confirmed that Drake had won his one million dollar bet on Adesanya.

The Drake curse was coined after the Canadian star loses whenever he places a bet on a fighter to win.

Nigerian born-British professional boxer suffered from the Drake curse when he posed with the Canadian rapper ahead of his first fight against Andy Ruiz in New York.

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MMA / Sports

McGregor has to get his mind off ‘boxing’ to avenge defeat by Dustin Poirier

He has to switch his mind back to MMA. He has to get his mind off boxing,” Claressa Shields believes Conor McGregor must be fully focused on reviving his UFC career in a third fight against Dustin Poirier 

Ireland’s UFC star faces Poirier in a third fight on Saturday in Las Vegas, having suffered a stoppage loss to the American in January. McGregor has hinted at an eventual return to boxing after his massive clash with Floyd Mayweather in 2017, but Shields has outlined the perils of combining a career in MMA and boxing. The three-weight world boxing champion, who is now fully committed to the Professional Fighters League, told Sky Sports: “I think that Conor McGregor is a force to be reckoned with, but it doesn’t matter who you are. “You can be me, you can be Conor, you can be Floyd, you can be whoever.

“He has to switch his mind back to MMA. He has to get his mind off boxing.

“Judging on the last fight, when Dustin Poirier kept kicking that front leg, it’s like he’s got to know. Even me, I know. Jab, get that leg out of there.

“You can’t be in a boxing stance in MMA, you have to make sure you’re ready to check that kick, catch that kick, or get it out of the way.

“You can’t just be taking kicks and taking kicks for five, five-minute rounds, because your leg can only take so many.”

Shields fears that McGregor could endure another major setback in the UFC, if he does not return to the tactics which brought him title success before his entry into boxing.

“If he fixes that, and he throws his striking, he gets back to his wrestling and all of that stuff, I think he can beat Dustin Poirier,” said Shields, who is preparing for her second PFL bout in late August.

“But I feel like Dustin Poirier, right now he has his number, unless Conor McGregor really goes back to the drawing board and just …