Legendary trainer praises Israel Adesanya’s mentality

Cordeiro particularly highlighted Adesanya’s mindset, stating that his fighting intelligence is unmatched in the octagon and that his mindset is another unique tool he uses when he fights.

Great fighter, Great coach

Since he retired from MMA, Cordeiro has transitioned to become a renowned fighting coach under the Kings' MMA. His most high profile trainee is former heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson, but he has some active MMA fighters under his tutelage.

Cordeiro alongside Boxing legend Mike Tyson Twitter

Cordeiro spoke highly of Adesanya in an interview with The Schmo, saying that the fighter’s high Intelligence quotient (IQ) makes him difficult to come up against in the octagon.

“We lost some fights against him. His mental game makes a lot of difference. His technique is good, but his mentality is better than his technique.

Israel Adesanya shows off his kicking range against Martin Vettori (Twitter/UFC) Twitter

"He has a high IQ inside the octagon. I believe this makes the difference between him and a lot of fighters." Cordeiro said.

Some of the prestigious coach’s clients have fallen short when matched up with Adesanya, with Marvin Vettori losing two The Last Stylebender via unanimous decision on two occasions. Another one of his clients, Kelvin Gastelum, did well to survive a fourth-round barrage, only to eventually lose by a unanimous decision like Vettori before him.