Legendary trainer praises Israel Adesanya’s mentality
Former MMA fighter turned combat training coach Rafael Cordeiro has revealed that he holds Nigerian born MMA star Israel Adesanya in the highest regards.
Former MMA fighter turned combat training coach Rafael Cordeiro has revealed that he holds Nigerian born MMA star Israel Adesanya in the highest regards.
Cordeiro particularly highlighted Adesanya’s mindset, stating that his fighting intelligence is unmatched in the octagon and that his mindset is another unique tool he uses when he fights.
Great fighter, Great coach
Since he retired from MMA, Cordeiro has transitioned to become a renowned fighting coach under the Kings' MMA. His most high profile trainee is former heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson, but he has some active MMA fighters under his tutelage.
Cordeiro spoke highly of Adesanya in an interview with The Schmo, saying that the fighter’s high Intelligence quotient (IQ) makes him difficult to come up against in the octagon.
“We lost some fights against him. His mental game makes a lot of difference. His technique is good, but his mentality is better than his technique.
"He has a high IQ inside the octagon. I believe this makes the difference between him and a lot of fighters." Cordeiro said.
Some of the prestigious coach’s clients have fallen short when matched up with Adesanya, with Marvin Vettori losing two The Last Stylebender via unanimous decision on two occasions. Another one of his clients, Kelvin Gastelum, did well to survive a fourth-round barrage, only to eventually lose by a unanimous decision like Vettori before him.
Although Adesanya has bested two of his better pupils, Cordeiro still believes that nobody is unbeatable and has vowed to find a chink in his armour.
“He’s a tough guy, but he’s not unbreakable though. In the future, for sure, we’re going to find a way to beat him.” a confident Cordeiro said.
Adesanya will return to the octagon for the highly anticipated middleweight fight with Jared Cannonier.
