UFC middleweight contender Uriah Hall has accused Kiwi middleweight champion Israel Adesanya of picking easy fights since becoming one of the biggest names in the sport.
Hall made the accusations ahead of his fight against UFC legend Anderson Silva in Sunday's (NZ time) Fight Night card in Las Vegas.
The 36-year-old is currently ranked No. 10 in the middleweight division, and a win over Silva would get him one step closer to a potential title shot.
Adesanya is currently coming off a dominant second-round TKO against Paulo Costa last month, which came one fight after he defeated Yoel Romero and knocked out former champion Robert Whittaker to win the title over a year ago.
Hall was asked his thoughts on the champion Adesanya and he didn't hold back, as he accused the reigning champion of taking "easy fights".
"Adesanya's picking his fights," says Hall. "He sees what I see, he sees a hole in all these guys.
"He's already picking [Jared] Cannonier, he's looking for easy fights. Yeah, I said it.
"So I know why he's picking certain fights, but I'm dynamic, especially where I'm at right now. I'm laser-focused, so it's a matter of time.
"I'm just going to play the politics card and whoever the UFC needs me to beat and get to the top."
Adesanya currently has seven wins against fighters ranked inside the top 15 including No. 1 Whittaker, No. 2 Costa, No. 5 Romero, No. 7 Derek Brunson, No. 8 Kelvin Gastelum, No. 12 Brad Tavares and No. 14 Marvin Vettori.
Last weekend, Whittaker beat Cannonier to become the new No.1 contender for the middleweight belt, but Adesanya isn't interested in a rematch, according to his trainer Eugene Bareman.
Bareman told Newshub that Adesanya will jump a weight class for his next bout with the ultimate goal to face light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.
Adesanya was looking to fight again in December, but as Bareman is working with Junior Fa ahead of his heavyweight boxing fight with Junior Fa, those plans were scrapped.
Blachowicz took to Twitter to say he's interested in facing Adesanya.
"I have heard that Israel Adesanya wants to face me next," he wrote. "No problem, If you are ready to fight in March, let's do this.
"Prepare for some fireworks guys."
