After a couple of days to reflect on his first title defence, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has labelled his win over Yoel Romero "the weirdest fight I've ever been part of".
Adesanya took down Romero in Las Vegas on Sunday but the fight was heavily-criticised by fans, commentators and even UFC boss Dana White for the lack of action.
On reflection Nigerian-born Kiwi Adesanya told ESPN it was a strange 25 minutes inside the octagon.
"One hundred per cent, the weirdest fight I've ever been a part of," he said.
"Even for me, as a fan, [it's] the most boring fight I've ever had, and I don't have boring fights. That's not my style, that's not my gig.
"You can just check my resumé and see that I come to fight. I'm not an actor. I'm a fighter."
Adesanya played a composed and patient game against Romero, using his superior reach to work a long-range game and close out a comfortable unanimous decision on points.
Adesanya said he simply had to counter what was put in front of him.
"For me, I was just thinking, 'Don't give in. Don't get frustrated,'" Adesanya said.
"So now, I thought, 'OK.' It's sounds stupid. There's a guy standing there, not doing anything. You should go hit him, right?"
Instead, Adesanya knew Romero was trying to bait him in.
"He's not not doing anything. He's a hundred per cent defence, and he's waiting for that split second so he could unload that knockout blow. And he did. At one point, I had my foot from the outside, I attacked with my foot on the inside.
"And then as soon as I blitz in, he lets go of that left hand and cracks me. Never rocked me, never hurt me, never dazed me, never flashed me. But he cracks me with this… and I could feel the thud. I was like, 'Ooh, don't get hit by that again.'"
Adesanya says that was Romero's chance to take control of the fight.
"When he cracked me, he hurt my eye. He compromised my eye [and] my vision.
"I could see two Romeros. When Anderson Silva, who is an older guy as well, did that in the second round (of our fight), what did he do? He pressed the action. He came looking trying to finish. And I was on my bicycle and then I started countering, as well.
"If you visibly compromise someone or hurt someone, or hurt their vision, you're not supposed to still just stand there and wait for them to come to you.
"I'm not stupid. After you just punch me, I'm not gonna be like, 'Alright, let me do that again'."
Adesanya is expected to see plenty more fireworks in his next defence with Brazil's Paulo Costa lined up to be his next challenger in a fight later this year.
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