Israel Adesanya shuts down Kamaru Usman super fight: 'It's bigger than money'

Israel Adesanya has poured cold water on a potential super-fight with Kamaru Usman, insisting he has ‘nothing to gain’ from a showdown with the UFC welterweight champion.

A mouth-watering showdown between the pair, 32 and 35 respectively, has been the talk of the internet for some time now after Usman’s UFC 268 victory over Colby Covington last November but nothing concrete has ever materialised.

But with both men currently occupying the top position of their respective weight divisions, some MMA fans are eager to see the two share the octagon to decide who is the No1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has also bigged up the blockbuster fight, saying: “They’re cool but I don’t think they’re best friends.”

Adesanya, however, can’t see the fight happening anytime soon.

He told TSN. “Kamaru can speak for himself and he has, and I’ve spoken for myself and we said we wouldn’t fight each other. For me personally, it’s bigger than money. Also, I have nothing to gain.

“It’s the guy coming up from a lower weight class that looks to challenge himself that’s almost the protagonist of the story, that gets to rise to the occasion and that’s cool, but Kamaru’s not interested.

“Ali is just greedy. He sees dollar signs, but I’m like you can make that money elsewhere. But he’s just super greedy and for me, it’s bigger than money.

“If I was gonna [sic] do this s*** for money and retire, I would have retired three fights ago. I’m set, but nah, it’s bigger than money. It’s just about legacy.”

Adesanya, who was born and raised in Nigeria before moving to New Zealand, became the second African-born UFC champion after dethroning Robert Whittaker in October 2019.

He has since gone on to defend his crown