Israel Adesanya just wants to fight. The 36 year-old ”Last Stylebender” had been fighting as middleweight champion for several years, but fighting more to protect his 185-pound title — as well as his place atop the UFC pay-per-view (PPV) events, which frequently paid the now-obsolete bonus points to its top stars. Assuming they didn’t compete […]
Israel Adesanya just wants to fight.
The 36 year-old ”Last Stylebender” had been fighting as middleweight champion for several years, but fighting more to protect his 185-pound title — as well as his place atop the UFC pay-per-view (PPV) events, which frequently paid the now-obsolete bonus points to its top stars.
Assuming they didn’t compete at 125 pounds.
Over the last few years, Adesanya (24-5) has struggled to find the win column, losing three straight and four of his last five. In addition, the former kickboxer was finished in three of those four losses. Perhaps it’s time for “The Last Stylebender” to get back to the offense that got him to the big dance in the first place.
Izzy by submission?!
“Like now, whenever I’m out and about in Auckland, I always get, ‘Oh, are you retired?’” Adesanya told Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA. “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. For me, it’s not about belts anymore. I got two shiny belts at home. It looks good, but I just want to fight.”
“I just want to do things like I did on the way to the belt,” Adesanya added. “I still fought really well when I was defending the belt, but I want to fight more freely. I want to try some risky sh*t like I used to. Like, remember the Brad Tavares fight? I think the end of the first round, I went for an Imanari roll that failed. I want to try sh*t like that again.”
The “Imanari roll” is named after Japanese MMA icon Masakazu Imanari.
Adesanya has remained out of action since going down in flames against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia back in February and as of this writing, has nothing in the works regarding his Octagon return. That said, don’t be surprised to see Adesanya’s name at or near the top of the list when it comes time to populate the UFC White House undercard.
Stay tuned.
Category: General Sports
