‘I’ll Be Back, Gone To Get Some Milk’

Israel Adesanya suffered just the second knockout loss of his MMA career earlier today (Sat., Feb. 1, 2025) at UFC Saudi Arabia live on ESPN+ from inside anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but the former UFC middleweight champion vows to return after he “gets some milk.”

Saturday afternoon’s main event against Imavov was expected to mark Adesanya’s return to the 185-pound win column after suffering back-to-back losses to Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland. Those are two of the best fighters in the UFC’s middleweight division right now and will end of locking horns for the title next weekend at UFC 312, but “Last Stylebender” still needed to prove he remains a top threat.

Unfortunately, Imavov proved to be hungrier than the former champion. The surging French contender uncorked a massive overhand right in the second round that caught Adesanya flush and sent him to the canvas. Imavov capped his efforts off with some nasty ground-and-pound to put the finishing touches on a TKO win over “Last Stylebender.” The only other time Adesanya lost by way of knockout in his MMA career was to Alex Pereira back at UFC 281 in 2022.

With the loss, Adesanya has now dropped his last three trips to the Octagon and is just 1-4 in his last five fights. It’s a hard pill to swallow if you’re Adesanya, but a stark reminder for all athletes competing in this sport that greatness is never guaranteed. You can be untouchable one fight and then completely outmatched the next. Adesanya has just been on the wrong end of the stick more often than not in recent years.

After taking a few hours to digest his knockout loss to Imavov, Adesanya issued an official statement while watching back film of the fight. Check it out below:

“‘As real as it gets.’ – @ufc

“Rolled the dice…snake eyes

“I’ll be back, gone to get some milk.”

For complete UFC Saudi Arabia results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

This news first appeared on MMA Mania. Read the original article.