Hollywood star Pratt embroiled in unlikely spat with UFC champ
Israel Adesanya has addressed criticism leveled at him by actor Chris Pratt for what the Hollywood star found to be a boring middleweight title defense by the fighter at UFC 276.
The New Zealander retained his 185lbs strap for the fifth time in the headline bout in Las Vegas by comfortably seeing off Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision last weekend.
While some thought the display was a defensive masterclass, others found the contest a snooze fest.
Jurassic World and Marvel lead man Pratt was among the critics, and there were reports of people leaving the T-Mobile Arena in the third round as boos could also be heard during the broadcast.
Addressing criticism from Pratt, Adesanya took to Twitter to upload a clip of the star being hit in the mouth with a keyboard in the 2008 box office hit 'Wanted', which features James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie, and was directed by Russian-Kazakh Timur Bekmambetov.
"Good morning," he captioned it. "I’m the man. You’re just some fan."
Good morning. 😊I’m the man. You’re just some fan. pic.twitter.com/FNQx9tQHvY
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) July 6, 2022
Adesanya was responding to comments that Pratt made on a post-fight show where he voiced his disapproval with Adesanya talking trash in the build-up to the fight yet failing to turn the heat on in a tepid affair that mostly saw him using his jab to keep KO king Cannonier at bay.
"I don't know this game – I'm just an actor, but I'm not a fan, man," said Pratt.
"I’m not a fan of coming out like all that talk, and then just kind of putting on a little bit of a pitter-patter. I’m like, 'C’mon, man. You’ve got to cash on that promise of being so badass.'"
Adesanya has also addressed the fans that booed him by saying: "F*ck 'em".
"They’ve all been here since 3 p.m., they’re all drunk. They don’t know what real fighting is or real finesse," he claimed.
"Look, I’ve said this: the greats, they all get to this point. I’ve seen it when I was just a fan. Still a fan. Anderson Silva. GSP [Georges St-Pierre] . I remember fights where I was like ‘That was a fantastic fight’ and people were just booing them. GSP. One of the GOATs. And people would just boo them," Adesanya recalled.
"And I’m like what the f**k are you guys watching? You dumb f**ks. [Muhammad] Ali, [Floyd] Mayweather... the same thing.
"You get to this point where you’re so great, people just want to see you fall no matter what. And if it’s not a show-out spectacular performance then it’s like ‘Aaaaargh, he’s not even that good.'
"I’m not going to risk my health, risk my brain. I do that, but I’m not going to do it stupidly just for the entertainment of some grongos, some drunk folks," Adesanya also insisted.
Calling the Brazilian out after his victory, Adesanya may face rising contender Alex Pereira in his next outing and look to avenge two defeats to him during their kickboxing days.
