Israel Adesanya is in uncharted territory for his combat sports career.
The former UFC middleweight champion had never lost three consecutive fights across his lengthy kickboxing and MMA journey. After a knockout loss to Nassourdine Imavov in the UFC Fight Night 250 main event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that’s the exact position Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) finds himself in now.
“I hate disappointing my fans, my team – my team feel proud of me because of the work I put into this,” Adesanya said on the UFC Post-fight Show on ESPN+. “It’s just the thrill and agony.”
Perhaps the biggest thrill of Adesanya’s storied career was his last victory at UFC 287 when he reclaimed the 185-pound title by finally overcoming the challenge of Alex Pereira. Adesanya knocked out the current UFC light heavyweight champion in the second round of their fourth combat sports showdown.
Ever since then, it’s been agony. Adesanya went on to drop the title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 and failed to recapture it for a third time against current champ Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305.
The highs are fantastic, but the lows are rough. No matter how hard the preparation is for a fight, sometimes the result just isn’t there. It’s a part of fighting that Adesanya feels fans will be able to observe, but never truly grasp like a fighter.
“I don’t think it’s for them to know,” Adesanya said. “You have to really be in it to know. It’s only a privilege only few will ever get to this point and understand. To be able to feel something so great, but also feel something so deep and so – ugh.
“Again, it’s a f*cking lovely game, but it’s a stupid game at the same time.”
Adesanya “felt good” early in the fight against Imavov (16-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) and was confident in the way things were unfolding – until everything came to a screeching halt.
“Round 1, I was in control of everything,” Adesanya said. “In hindsight, maybe I should have taken some time. I just didn’t want him to rest because I knew he was tired. So, I didn’t want him to rest. But again, 20/20.”
At 35, Adesanya isn’t sure where to go from here. His legacy is already set in stone. He’s a two-time champion who recorded six defenses on his first run. It will take some time to process his future, but he appears to be in good spirits on the surface.
“I have to chill and then think about things,” Adesanya said. “I will relax first for a little bit, just help the teammates who have fights coming up, and yeah, see what I want to. I was going to do that anyway, but you know, now I’m forced to. Shoutout to Nassourdine for that.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 250.
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