Israel Adesanya vowed on Sunday to come back stronger following his first professional defeat in MMA, as he concentrates for now on dominating back at middleweight.
Unbeaten in his previous 20 pro fights, the middleweight champion was attempting to become only the fifth UFC athlete to hold two belts simultaneously when he stepped into the headline bout at UFC 259 against light-heavyweight title-holder Jan Blachowicz.
However, the giant Pole saw off his Nigerian-born rival by unanimous decision at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, even if the 49-46, 49-45, 49-45 scores seemed wildly exaggerated.
Adesanya, a former kickboxing champion who has also competed in boxing, appeared at the post-fight press conference, to his credit, and told the gathered media: “Losses are part of life. Losses are something I deal with occasionally. Just this is my first one in MMA. As I say, it is what it is. If I was going to lose to anyone, what better guy to lose to than a guy like Jan?
“He’s a classy champion, a cool dude, a very nice guy – a guy who has a great story himself: on his way to getting cut from the company, comes back and then dominates and becomes the light-heavyweight champion and then hands this guy, a future legend, his first loss. Yeah, if I was going to lose to anyone, I’m glad I lost to him.”
Adesanya, 31, was contesting his first UFC bout at light heavyweight, with his decision to move up a division the subject of much conjecture. The New Zealander said he weighed around 200 lbs for the clash with Blachowicz, while his opponent was thought to be at least 20 lbs heavier. That told whenever the bout went to the ground, with Blachowicz able to use his bigger frame to pin down Adesanya.
“No regrets,” Adesanya said when asked about going to light heavyweight. “I feel like the boxing model has made it a bad thing to lose. Yeah, it sucks losing – don’t get me wrong. But it’s not like the end of the world.
"Like I said, I’ve lost before in the past… right now, me and my team, we’re just excited to get home and work on certain little details. Honestly, I could’ve won this fight… tonight he played a better game plan, and he was the better fighter tonight. That’s it. He respected me, and I respected him, and we had a great showing of ourselves.
“I’m not heartbroken. I hate losing, don’t get me wrong. But I’m not like, ‘Oh my god, he really embarrassed me’. I felt like I had a great showing for myself.
“I represented my team very well. Now we go back to the drawing board. It’s kind of fun. This is the dip in my story. You know what I mean? This is the valley, if you will. Then, I’ll rise again like the phoenix that I am.”
Long-time rival Jon Jones was quick to slam Adesanya’s performance on social media, declaring he was not “even worth my time” and claiming that “people so quick to jump on the hype train”.
However, while Adesanya said he would return to middleweight and attempt to cement his legacy there – he'd like to take on Liverpool's Darren Till there – he plans to “definitely” step up again to light heavyweight.
What is more, he isn't ruling out a potential super-fight against Jones at heavyweight.
“Never say never,” Adesanya said. “But right now, I’m going back down to 185 [lbs] and getting my work done.”
UFC president Dana White paid tribute afterwards to Adesanya for stepping out of his comfort zone, telling the media: “This fight was, ‘Is Israel going to beat Jan and go on to superstardom and possibly fight Jon Jones at heavyweight?’
“He’s the middleweight champ. He doesn’t get the light-heavyweight title and he doesn’t fight Jon Jones. But you know what? You can never hurt somebody for thinking big and trying to become great. He gave it a shot tonight and it didn’t happen.”
Jurassic%20Park
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Pros%20and%20cons%20of%20BNPL
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Most match wins on clay
Guillermo Vilas - 659
Manuel Orantes - 501
Thomas Muster - 422
Rafael Nadal - 399 *
Jose Higueras - 378
Eddie Dibbs - 370
Ilie Nastase - 338
Carlos Moya - 337
Ivan Lendl - 329
Andres Gomez - 322
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
