Ex-UFC champion reveals unexpected plan for UFC future after third-straight loss

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya is taking an unexpected approach to what may be the final phase of his illustrious combat sports career.

Already enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame as part of the "Fight Wing", Adesanya currently finds himself in uncharted territory after suffering three losses in a row for the very first time as either a kickboxer or a mixed martial artist.

The 36-year-old had never even lost back-to-back MMA fights prior to his current run, and we’re now closing in on a year since Adesanya last stepped into the Octagon to headline UFC Saudi Arabia against Nassourdine Imavov.

Israel Adesanya Reveals Plan For UFC Future

Speaking during a Q&A at Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA in Thailand, Adesanya was asked if he still has his eyes set on winning the UFC middleweight belt for a third time (h/t Red Corner MMA).

“Now, whenever I’m out and about in Auckland, every day I always get the ‘Oh, are you retired?’” Adesanya answered. “And at first, I used to have to explain myself, like ‘Nah, I’m just taking a break, I’m doing other things.’ But now, I just go ‘Yeah, I’m retired.’ Until they see me on a poster.”

Israel Adesanya prepares to fight Sean Strickland (not pictured) during UFC 293 at Qudos Bank Arena. | Jasmin Frank-Imagn Images

Adesanya also took nearly a year off after his second middleweight title reign ended at UFC 293. After reclaiming his belt with a knockout-win over his former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira, “The Last Stylebender” dropped a unanimous decision to Sean Strickland in one of the biggest upsets in UFC championship history.

"I Wanna Fight More Freely"

The two-time UFC titleholder went on to say that while he’s not worried about belts at this stage, he would like to return to the fighting style that helped build him into one of the more popular UFC stars of the modern era.

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

“For me, it’s not about belts anymore. I’ve got two shiny belts at home, they look good, but I just wanna fight, I just wanna do things like I did on the way to the belt. I still fought really well when I was defending the belt, but I wanna fight more freely, and I wanna try some risky s*** like I used to.”

After joining the UFC with an 11-0 MMA record in 2018, Adesanya won six-straight fights and claimed the interim middleweight belt in an epic war with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 before he knocked out Robert Whittaker in a title unification bout later that year. Five middleweight title defenses and a failed bid to claim the UFC’s light heavyweight championship followed before Adesanya was stopped by Pereira in their first MMA meeting at UFC 281.

Stopping Pereira in their fourth meeting overall between MMA and kickboxing was arguably the most impressive moment of Adesanya’s MMA career, and now fans are left to wait and see who “The Last Stybender” will meet next after being knocked out by Imavov in his first non-title bout since 2019.

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