It’s been almost a full year since former UFC champion Israel Adesanya stepped foot in the Octagon. Adesanya, who has lost four of his last five fights, has not competed since a TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia in February.
Since losing to Imavov, Adesanya has been teasing a matchup with former foe Sean Strickland, but those plans were thwarted when Strickland was recently booked to fight Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston. Now, Adesanya’s opponent remains up in the air as he plots a possible comeback.
Despite retirement speculation, Adesanya remains interested in at least one more UFC fight to potentially return to the middleweight title mix. But don’t expect the same Adesanya to return to the cage, as he recently admitted.
Israel Adesanya has hinted he will take more risks in his planned UFC comeback
During a recent question and answer session on Bangta Muy Thai Tham and MMAAdesanya was asked about his plans for an Octagon return and hinted that he would return to some of his old tactics.
“Every day when I’m out and about in Auckland I get the comment, ‘Oh, I hear you’re retired!’, and I always explained it to myself,” Adesanya said.
“For me, it’s not about the belts anymore. I have 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. I still fought very well when I defended the belt, but I want to fight more freely and try risky things like I used to.
“Remember the fight with Brad Tavares? At the end of the first round, I went for a throw that failed. I want to try it again.”
Adesanya is seeking his first UFC win since defeating Alex Pereira at UFC 287.
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