Paul Heyman: Israel Adesanya Is The "Closest Thing" To Anderson Silva

Paul Heyman has his favorites in the mixed martial arts bubble.

Heyman appeared on Wednesday's episode of Ariel Helwani's MMA Show. Towards the end of the 30-minute-plus conversation, the WWE personality highlighted some of his favorite active UFC fighters.

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"Israel. Oh my god. The closest thing I've seen to Anderson Silva. Huge fan of his," Heyman shared. "Masvidal. I like his style. The Ben Askren fight was one of the damndest things I've ever seen. UFC can count my money anytime they put a Diaz brother in the cage. Besides that, there is always Conor McGregor and Khabib will always have my interest because he's just so magnificent inside the cage. Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't say perhaps the best pound-for-pound in the history of mixed martial arts, Amanda Nunes."

The former ECW boss also shared his thoughts on what smaller promotions must do to close the gap between them and the UFC.

Distribution, marketing, publicity and marketing publicity based on that distribution. UFC's distribution is so powerful, so strong," he explained. "And whether it's Bellator or ONE or anybody else, they don't have the same domestic or global distribution as the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It's all a game of exposure."

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