Hollywood star Chris Pratt has retracted his critical comments towards Israel Adesanya after his win at UFC 276 last weekend.
The Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy star was in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to watch the middleweight champion defend his world title last weekend. But he was unimpressed, as were a number of fans, with the lack of hard-hitting action as Adesanya cruised to a dominant five-round victory to retain his belt for the fifth time.
"I’m going to say this as humbly as I can," Pratt said during the ESPN post-fight show. "As a guy who never stepped in the Octagon. I don’t know this game, I’m just an actor. But I’m not a fan. I’m not a fan of coming out, like, all that talk and then just kind of putting on a little bit of a pitter-patter. I’m like, ‘Come on, man. Cash on that.’ You’ve got to cash on that promise of being so bada**.
"If I bet with my money, I would bet Adesanya would’ve done something like that. But I was hoping to see Cannonier [win]. I’m not going to lie."
Adesanya hit back at Pratt with a thinly-veiled shot towards the actor on Twitter during the week. He shared a clip from the film 'Wanted' in which James McAvoy hits him with a computer keyboard, with the caption: "Good morning. I'm the man, you're just some fan."
And the actor has since performed a U-turn on his initial criticism, insisting that he has respect for the fighter. Pratt is a known MMA fan and has been spotted at Bellator and UFC events while on breaks from filming.
"You’re right," he wrote in a response on Twitter. "I’m sorry brutha [sic]. It bugs me when people criticise my work - having never themselves risked anything. It makes me a hypocrite to do exactly that to you. My bad. Keep on keeping on champ."
Although he has climbed down, Pratt wasn't the only critic of Adesanya's after the fight. Since winning the middleweight title in 2019, the Nigerian fighter has barely lost a round while defending his belt five times. The only time he seriously struggled was when he moved up to light-heavyweight to challenge Jan Blachowicz for his championship.
What have you made of Israel Adesanya's run as middleweight champion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
However, after viciously knocking out Robert Whittaker in an explosive stadium fight to unify his interim belt with the Australian's undisputed one, he has only recorded one stoppage. Adesanya had a comically-poor defence against Yoel Romero in March 2020 before stopping Paulo Costa the following September.
But after moving back down following his fight with Blachowicz, he has had three comfortable unanimous-decision wins over Marvin Vettori, Whittaker and Cannonier. Former champion Michael Bisping believes he has been under-delivering for ticket-buying customers.
"What I wanted to see was a little more urgency," Bisping said during the post-fight show on BT Sport. "A willingness to entertain the 20,000 people that have paid for very expensive tickets. However: and still. That is the main thing. The walk, as we know here, was legendary. And he came out, and he was ahead in every round."
