Former UFC champion Israel Adesanya reacts to KO loss after rewatching Imavov fight

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya has finally gotten a chance to rewatch his TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov this past Saturday, his fourth blemish in his last five outings.

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Adesanya, who remains in UFC CEO Dana White's good graces despite recent struggles inside the Octagon, had little to say about his performance other than regret, self-doubt, and simply what could have been for the fighter who, by many standards, is one of the division's all-time legends.

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💔😓Israel Adesanya confronts footage of his knockout loss to Nassourdine Imavov.

🎥 @stylebender ▫️ pic.twitter.com/9928qYoCQG
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) February 1, 2025

“Fair. fair game,” Adesanya said in a video posted shortly following the loss. “Fair game. F*ck. ...

It was a sign maybe the 35-year-old doesn't have the same skillset he once did, but Adesanya admitted that, even with longevity, the flow of an MMA fighter's progression is meant to be certain ways for some and different for others.

“That’s how the game goes,” Adesanya said.

It was a fight that showed the differences in two career paths. For Imavov, it's the biggest win of his career to date, erasing the notion he isn't capable of beating championship-level competition. It also represented the he, unlike Adesanya's previous 28 opponents, could crack his chin in the way in which he did.

Israel Adesanya reacts to defeating Alex Pereira during UFC 287 at Miami-Dade Arena. | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

In the UFC, the only fighter who could lay claim to doing something similar is Pereira, the current UFC light heavyweight champion. His UFC 281 upset of Adesanya in November 2022 looked to be a changing of the guard, a reminder how fragile, unpredictable, and poetic the sport of MMA can be.

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That's Adesanya. He may have lost to guy with far less experience, starpower, or potentially long-term upside, but like ex-champion Chuck Liddell did a decade-plus ago, he's fought a whos-who list of anyone and everyone who signed the dotted line and simply said "yes."

Nassourdine Imavov stopped Israel Adesanya early in the second round of their fight. | (REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed)

Regardless of what Adesanya does next, as White alluded to before and after the fight, the legacy of "The Last Stylebender" has already been "cemented."

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