Israel Adesanya’s road back to UFC gold had another brutal setback at UFC Saudi Arabia. ‘The Last Stylebender’ suffered a devastating KO loss to Nassourdine Imavov, leaving fans and analysts wondering about his future. One of those voices is of former UFC champion Daniel Cormier, who believes Adesanya is now out of the title picture for good.
Following the event, Adesanya was asked where his career was at and how he saw it moving forward. But all the former middleweight champion could inform the reporter was that he was going go take a break. At this point, it is clear even Izzy doesn’t know what lies ahead. He could very well call it a day tomorrow and ride into the sunset.
However, former UFC double champion, DC doesn’t think we have seen the back of Adesanya just yet!
“Adesanya is done fighting for titles. But what I do no believe is that Adesanya is done as a fighter. Israel Adesanya has earned the right to fight lesser competition right now.”
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According to ‘DC,’ the former middleweight king just needs to step away from high-level competition for now and focus on fighting lower-ranked opponents to rebuild his confidence. It’s a tough pill to swallow for a fighter who has spent the majority of his career only fighting in title matches, but given his recent struggles, it might be the best path forward.
This loss to Imavov is just the latest blow in what has been a rocky period for Adesanya. After losing his belt in shocking fashion to Sean Strickland at UFC 293, many expected him to take time off before making another title push. To be fair, he did take a few months off but used it to feud with Dricus du Plessis.
The two fought at UFC 305, where Izzy looked really good… until he didn’t. Once DDP found an opening, it all came crashing down.
And it seems that pattern continues to be exhibited by the former champ. With another knockout loss on his record, the reality is clear, Izzy might need to rethink his approach. Even former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch agrees with this.
Poor form catching up to Izzy
According to Welch, Izzy made a fundamental mistake that should have been corrected years ago.
Adesanya has long been fighting with obvious flaws in his game. But in his prime, he was so quick and instinctive that it almost didn’t matter. for instance, he has always changed his stance far too close to an opponent, and every time he gets caught doing it, he retreats almost blindly. It’s always poorly balanced and he never keeps his hands up.
Adesanya’s defense is at its most vulnerable when he’s forced to retreat after a fighter gets past his first layer of counters.
Squaring his stance and the use of static frames has gotten him in trouble numerous times. pic.twitter.com/FlTEypKBGp— Feño (@fenoxsky) January 31, 2025
Welch even pointed out that Izzy also tends to scramble back with his chin in the air, something he has also gotten away with in the past, like when he knocked out Paulo Costa. But against Imavov, that habit cost him dearly.
“Izzy reaches a lot, gets away, in the past with leaning back, like he did against Paulo Costa, leaning back and throwing the left hook. But, it’s fundamentally not correct and Imavov made him pay for it,”
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Given the level of striking talent at City Kickboxing, Welch suggested that this is something that should have been ironed out already, and the fact that it’s still an issue raises questions about whether Adesanya can make the necessary adjustments moving forward. According to Welch, the Kiwi needs to make some fundamental boxing changes in his fight and he wouldn’t be so susceptible to getting knocked out.
No, whether or not, Adesanya remains invested enough to do it is another matter altogether.
