Israel Adesanya’s Team ‘Made A Mistake’ in Nassourdine Imavov Fight
Mike Angove, Israel Adesanya’s striking coach, appeared on Submission Radio following UFC Saudi Arabia. During his appearance, Angove touched on what went wrong for Adesanya during his bout against Nassourdine Imavov.
“The name of the game, particularly in small gloves, you can’t make mistakes. We made a mistake and Nassourdine, I would say with his team, recognized when we made that mistake and he jumped on it, which means they had to have planned. So, you’ve got to congratulate them for that.”
Angove also discussed the moment Adesanya got poked in the eye and the ramifications of not taking at least some time to reset.
“Obviously, Izzy got poked in the eye. There was a break, Izzy didn’t want to take the break, was just keen to get on with it, but in doing that he didn’t reset as you normally would and create some space. That means you’re still in the firing zone and then you want him to keep the pressure on. That’s just one of those things that just happens.”
The striking mentor also mentioned that “Izzy” was caught when he was switching stances. He credited Imavov for landing a “beautiful right hand that resonated around the stadium.” Angove also said that while the team is “gutted” for Adesanya, there’s nothing that they can do about it.
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