Coach Speak: Andre Galvao on Israel Adesanya’s Attempt to be Dual Champ

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Israel Adesanya will have an opportunity to be the first to unify middleweight and light heavyweight Ultimate Fighting Championship belts. To put his name in the record book, however, the middleweight king will have to beat Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC 259, which will take place in Las Vegas on March 6.

According to Adesanya’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu trainer Andra Galvao, the ground cannot be considered the weak point of “The Last Stylebender” anymore.

“He stayed six weeks training with me here in San Diego twice a day. He is a sponge; learns really fast. That's why I gave him a purple belt,” said the 10-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion and six-time Abu Dhabi king in this exclusive video interview with Sherdog Brazilian correspondent Marcelo Alonso.

Galvao also talked about the possibility of returning from his retirement to make a superfight against ADCC absolute champion (2019) Gordon Ryan:

“I fought all the best jiu-jitsu fighters from three generations, I have 10 golds in [the] World’s and I’m the only fighter in ADCC history who won four superfights, something nobody has done before. Actually, Felipe Pena, the guy I beat in the last superfight already defeated Gordon twice. ADCC has been paying $40,000 to superfights winners since 1999. If they accept to pay me $1 Million I would stop my business for six months to train and return at 40 to face a 28-year-old boy. Something that would add nothing to my legacy but would be good to my family.”