Israel Adesanya was one of UFC 230’s brightest stars, but not everything went smoothly for him.
The main card opener of Saturday’s event at Madison Square Garden in New York saw “The Last Stylebender” put his 14-0 MMA record on the line against middleweight contender Derek Brunson, and Adesanya had to deal with a few hiccups en route to a Performance of the Night-winning first-round finish.
Most egregious in his mind was what he perceived to be Brunson cutting corners in an attempt to take Adesanya down to the mat. Adesanya felt Brunson twice grab his shorts, and at one point he had to shout at referee Herb Dean to address the problem.