Israel Adesanya discusses early weigh-ins, Yoel Romero, and facing Darren Till in the future

Israel Adesanya would prefer if the UFC kept the early weigh-ins rather than pushed them to later in the day, as suggested by Dana White.

The striking supremo has come in under the middleweight mark in both of his UFC fights to date, but still thinks the healthiest option is to allow fighters to weigh-in as early as possible.

“I’d rather it be in the mornings because I’m not trying to be grumpy all day. I’d rather just get it done in the morning and then rehydrate properly. You want to spend the least amount of time dehydrated as possible,” Adesanya told MMA Fighting.

“That being said, if it is getting moved to 4 p.m. I’ll still make the weight perfectly and I’ll be dehydrated for as little time as possible. That’s how I do it, I’m a professional.”

Adesanya thinks those who have come in over the weight limit are “almost cheating” and revealed that he wanted Yoel Romero to lose after he came in too heavy for a second time to face Robert Whittaker at UFC 225.

“Look at Romero in his last fight. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t really care in the end because it was such a good fight, but regardless of what happened I didn’t want Romero to win,” he said.

“F*ck that, the guy missed weight and it’s not even the first time he missed weight. And he’s been caught doing other stuff in the past too. I think there’s an element of gaming the system there, it’s almost cheating to be honest.”

“The Last Stylebender” competed on the same card that hosted Romero’s first showdown with Whittaker and he still has his suspicions about the Cuban’s failure to hit the mark on his first and second attempts.

“I was there in Perth and I still don’t fully understand what happened, it’s a bit of a conspiracy theory. I can remember I saw him going into the sauna that time, but they were cleaning the sauna so he wasn’t able to go in to cut more weight,” he remembered.

“Regardless of all that, the conspiracy theory is that Yoel Romero didn’t try to lose weight again after he weighed in the first time in Perth. Why would he deplete himself more by trying to lose that further three pounds? I think he just thought, ‘F*ck that, I’m going to win this fight. He can take my purse, but at the end of the day, I know I’m fighting for the world title.’”

He doesn’t understand his peers’ obsession with being bigger than their opponents.

“I’ve had two UFC fights now and both times I’ve been underweight. I’m not even trying to be underweight I just keep sweating every time I come out of the bathtub. Honestly, it’s easy for me. I’m not trying to be one of those guys that’s bigger than everyone else in the weight class. People ask me, ‘Why don’t you go to welterweight?’ F*ck that, I’d have to lose my nuts to get down there.”

He also thinks surging Liverpudlian welterweight will join him in the middleweight division in a matter of time. He’d love to test the talented Muay Thai proponent at the heavier classification.

“It’s funny because [Till] only commented on something on my Instagram not so long ago and I said, ‘You’re not going to be a welterweight for much longer’. It was only a few weeks later than he came in heavy for the Thompson fight and looked what happened there.

“I’d love to test myself against him, I think that’s a really good fight for further down the line. I want to pass that test.”