Israel Adesanya Signals Imminent Octagon Comeback
Israel Adesanya, the former UFC middleweight champion, has confirmed that he could return to the octagon soon.
Following his defeat to Sean Strickland, Adesanya confirmed that he was no longer interested in fighting for belts. Instead, the focus was on fighting for fun. Izzy would then state that he was taking a break from the sport.
Adesanya’s Return
“Now I’m going to take time to look after myself, and I’m not going to fight for a long time. I’m definitely not going to retire because I know me — I’m not leaving like that. I know me. But if I did, I’m fine. I don’t need to prove anything else. But I know what I can do and what I can change in my lifestyle to make my body adapt to where I need to be. I’m going to heal myself up. You won’t see me fight for a long time,” Adesanya
But speculation emerged that he could make an appearance at UFC 300. So far, there is nothing to indicate that this will happen. And yet, Dana White has remained coy over who could appear on the card, suggesting that there could be a surprise. But one thing for sure is that Izzy is considering a return.
“My last few fights I’ve had four fights in 14 months as a champion in the UFC. That’s unheard of. I was the most active champion — not fighter — champion in the league. Life has forced me to take some time off, and I will. But, you will see me soon. I said ‘2027,’ and the retards out there actually thought I meant that. But, you’ll see,” Adesanya stated
Adesanya Trolls Pereira
Outside of that, Adesanya mocked Alex Pereira by showing off a Mortal Kombat theme-inspired video, showing his knockout of the Brazilian at UFC 287. Adesanya gained his revenge by stopping Pereira in the second round following his loss at UFC 281. The victory was short-lived as Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland.
The Brazilian also then moved up to light heavyweight and won the vacant belt against Jiri Prochazka. The talk of a trilogy has continued, with Pereira expressing his desire to run things back. In his recent comments, he made it clear the ball was in Adesanya’s court since Izzy did reveal he was taking an extended break from MMA.
“It doesn’t matter for me. I called him out in the cage after the title win, and I wanted to give him the chance, and I saw he was not giving me any respect for this – he was laughing about it and making some jokes. So for me, it doesn’t matter anymore. I gave him the chance. If he comes up, nice; if he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter,” Pereira said
Adesanya also appeared reluctant as he took his time to take some shots at the Brazilian. The following clip shows Adesanya’s UFC 287 knockout in animation form with the following comments ‘“lol rent free…I sleep good.”
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