SUMMARY
- Israel Adesanya claims he's made several changes to his lifestyle but he isn't going to retire any time soon.
- Adesanya believes he will return a few months from now while Dricus du Plessis claims he's agreed to fight the former champ.
Israel Adesanya was on the path to becoming the greatest middleweight that ever fought in the UFC octagon. There is still some weightage to his case, however, many hoped he would retire an undisputed champion. Upon signing with the UFC, the kickboxer maintained a nine-fight win streak until he fought for the light heavyweight title against Jan Blachowicz. That was his only LHW fight but he continued to dominate the MW division.
But in November 2022, Izzy lost his belt to Alex Pereira and retained it six months later. His follow-up fight was scheduled against current MW champion Dricus du Plessis, however, the South African pulled out as he wasn’t healthy enough. Sean Strickland stepped in as a replacement on short notice, beat Adesanya, then lost the title to Dricus in his first title defense.
Israel Adesanya’s focus isn’t on retrieving the Middleweight title anymore
Israel Adesanya is nine months off his last fight in the octagon and after losing to Strickland, he claimed he wanted to take a long break from fighting. The 34-year-old recently addressed a possible return on his YouTube channel. He said, “I’m putting in work but I just want to optimize myself a lot better than I was compared to how I used to live as an athlete.”
Adesanya also described that he’s changed his eating regimen completely from skipping meals before training to having every meal on a timely basis. He also added, “I’m about to be 35 next month and I realize, you know, Father Time wins. You can’t beat Father Time. So, you have to optimize yourself.”
However, what might intrigue fans is that Izzy isn’t focused on winning the title anymore. He wants to return to dominance above it all. “I’m excited… People are like, ‘Oh, I hope you get the belt back, I hope you get the belt back,’ I have belts. I don’t need any more belts. I’m coming for heads. That’s what I want to do,” said Adesanya. A return fight will most likely be another title shot, a matchup that was supposed to happen against du Plessis last year.
Dricus du Plessis is determined for a rematch against The Last Stylebender
Dricus hasn’t fought anybody since Strickland, nor is he scheduled to defend his title against anyone for the time being. The UFC is expected to announce a fight between the champ and Israel Adesanya very soon. Dricus recently addressed the potential fight saying, “I’ve agreed to everything, I’m ready, I want to do it. That’s the fight I want… Let’s just announce this thing. I don’t know what’s the hold-up. I want it to be announced.”
Your NEW middleweight champ 🇿🇦 🏆#UFC297 | @DricusDuPlessis pic.twitter.com/VBi1sTzJGe
— UFC (@ufc) January 21, 2024
But at the same time, du Plessis also claimed he doesn’t mind fighting either Strickland or a rising star in Khamzat Chimaev while Adesanya prepares to make a return. Based on what The Last Stylebender’s comments, it will be at least 11 months into his break before his next fight happens. Since it’s already been nine months, Izzy could possibly fight Dricus in August.