For Israel Adesanya, the prospects of ever holding the UFC championship again are not good. And “The Last Stylebender” is completely fine with that.
Adesanya , a 35-year-old from Nigeria, has lost his last three. Two of those were over the UFC middleweight titles, as he fell to Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis.
Read more: UFC Tonight: Full UFC Seattle Card, TV Info, Start Time And Latest Betting Odds
From 2021-23, he went 4-1 with the lone loss coming to Alex Pereira over the belt. Adesanya would avenge that defeat with a knockout of the current UFC light heavyweight champion before falling to Strickland.
Adesanya suffered a third consecutive defeat in February to Nassourdine Imavov. That loss left him realizing where his standing is in the division.
“Do I have a title shot in mind for the future? No,” Adesanya said during a YouTube Q&A (thanks to MMA Mania for the quotes). “When I got to the UFC, I never chased the belt. I expected it, expected to be champion, expected to get to this point that I wanted to get to because of the work I put in and the mindset, the belief.”
Israel Adesanya Willing To Stand By His Fighting Resume
Adesanya currently has a record of 24-5 in mixed martial arts, 6-1 record in boxing and a combined 75 wins when you include his kickboxing and Muay Thai bouts. Along with all that, he holds notable victories over Pereira, Robert Whittaker, Yoel Romero and Anderson Silva.
“If what I’ve done in this game doesn’t make me happy already, then what will,” Adesanya said. “I’m not expecting (a title shot). If it comes, I’ll take it, I’ll take it with both hands, but I’m not expecting it. Just chilling and living and training, doing well. When it happens – or if it happens – it happens, but I’m just not expecting it.”
Here is the complete interview with Adesanya from his channel.
