Israel Adesanya and Muhammad Salah Are Attached: The MMA champion and soccer player have an unexpected connection, as revealed by Mohammad Salah, who shares how Israel Adesanya inspired his bow and arrow celebration.
The one thing that unites them is that Mohammad Salah gave Israel Adesanya credit for his famous celebratory motion! When Salah scores in Anfield, it is customary for Liverpool supporters to watch him do a bow and arrow celebration. The Egyptian soccer player, however, recently admitted that he took the idea from “The Last Stylebender.” Although Salah is well-known to be interested in the marketing headed by Dana White, he mentioned a specific game that gave him the idea to take out his make-believe bow and arrow.
It was none other than the legendary Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira match. “I was watching the UFC, Pereira against Adesanya,” Mohammad Salah said in an exclusive interview with Men In Blazers. I thought Adesanya’s celebration after winning the second fight was nice. I did it for that reason. Yes, the UFC fans will remember that match.
.@LFC footballer Mohamed Salah says Israel Adesanya inspired his bow and arrow celebration 🏹🔥
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) August 30, 2024
“I was watching the UFC, Pereira against Adesanya. When Adesanya won the second fight he celebrated like that and I liked the celebration. That’s why I did it.”
[via @MenInBlazers] pic.twitter.com/rJL0TrlWqE
After their GLORY kickboxing rivalry ended, Pereira and Adesanya squared off for the first time in the UFC back in 2022. Pereira dominated the fight, stopping “Izzy” to take home the middleweight title. However, Adesanya got his retribution right away in the subsequent fight at UFC 287.
Adesanya stunned Poatan with a crushing blow in the second round, causing the Brazilian to lose. And this is precisely when Adesanya celebrated with a bow and arrow on Alex Pereira.
But many detractors have pointed out that Alex Pereira’s trademark move was the bow and arrow before Salah’s disclosure. Pereira does the bow and arrow salute whenever he enters, as if to intimidate his opponents with his make-believe weapon. Even though he has influenced some of the best athletes, such as Mohammad Salah, Israel Adesanya is currently going through a difficult time.
When “Izzy” faced off against Dricus du Plessis, the “Real African champion” dispute remained unresolved. With the intention of regaining his middleweight belt, Adesanya went all out on Du Plessis. But in the early going, the South African was astute enough to allow Adesanya to deplete his petrol tank. Next, when “Izzy” started to falter, Du Plessis used his unconventional fighting style to his advantage and trapped “The Last Stylebender” in a chokehold that proved fatal.
Given that Adesanya has now lost three of his last four fights, this was an unexpected dip for him. In actuality, “Izzy” has suffered back-to-back defeats after winning back his middleweight title from Pereira. Adesanya unexpectedly lost the title to Sean Strickland, and his recent performance has raised various doubts about his ability. It is now up to him to determine how he is going to bring himself back to life.
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