Morning Report: Israel Adesanya does not expect to win UFC title again, dismisses claims that he’s ‘washed’
Israel Adesanya isn’t done yet, he’s just in a different mindset.
It’s been a tough go for Adesanya lately inside the octagon as the former two-time middleweight champion has lost three in a row and four of his past five bouts inside the promotion. Most recently, Adesanya was knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov in their main event fight at UFC Saudi Arabia in January. This came on the heels of Adesanya losing his title shot against Dricus du Plessis, and now “The Last Stylebender” finds himself well and truly out of the title picture for the first time in nearly 7 years.
It’s a whole new position for Adesanya, and one he’s says he’s approaching with a completely different mindset.
“When I got to the UFC, I never chased the belt,” Adesanya explained on his YouTube channel. “I stand on that. I never chased the belt. I expected it. I expected to be champion. I expected to get to this point that I wanted to get to because of the work that I put in and my belief in myself, my mindset. I knew with everything that I was going to do, I was going to get there. I expected it.
“After the DDP fight, I remember thinking, ‘Oh well, cool. It’ll come around. I don’t have to chase it. It’ll come around.’ I expected. Now after this fight, I’m just kind of like, ‘You know what? I’m not expecting anything.’ I’m not expecting to be the champ again. If what I’ve done is this game doesn’t make me happy already, then what will? So I’m not expecting it. If it comes, I’ll take it with both hands, but I’m not expecting it. I’m kind of just chilling and living, training, doing well.”
Given his current losing streak, Adesanya appears to be a long way off from a possible title shot. And considering the fact he’s 35 years old, has well over 100 professional combat sports bouts under his belt, and has been finished in three of his four recent losses, some fans believe “The Last Stylebender” is past his prime. Adesanya has a simple message for those doubters.
“They call me washed, but how are you going to call me washed when you haven’t even been in laundry?” Adesanya said. “You haven’t even gotten dirty. What have you done?”
Nevertheless, Adesanya does not find himself in unfamiliar territory. Since joining the UFC in 2018, Adesanya was either on a path to the title or defending it. Now, the former champion even admits he’s not sure where things go from here, but he’s working on it.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Adesanya said when asked what’s next. “I have an idea when I want to fight-ish, but for the first time — I want to say ‘a long time,’ but I’ve never really been in this position. So I don’t know, and I’m just taking it as it comes. It’s nice, because before I came on the scene, I had to adapt and call a lot of audibles as things were playing along , and call my next move. But now I’ll just plot.”
TOP STORIES
Reaction. Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes react to Ilia Topuria vacating featherweight title.
185. Dustin Poirier doesn’t like Islam Makhachev’s chances at middleweight, same for Ilia Topuria at lightweight.
Retire. Song Yadong predicts he’ll end Henry Cejudo’s career at UFC Seattle: ‘Time is over, it’s time to retire.’
Shortcut. UFC Seattle’s Jean Matsumoto sees late-notice Rob Font fight as shortcut to top of bantamweight division.
Pride rules. Daniel Dubois out due to illness; Joseph Parker gets new opponent for Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 card.
VIDEO STEW
Between the Links.
Song Yadong interview.
Michael Chandler interview.
Daniel Cormier on the 145 title situation.
Arnold Allen reacts.
Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson chop it up.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Finishes from ONE.
Starting with a BANG Hussein Salem debuts with a first-round KO of Walter Cogliandro in our opening bout! Don't miss the main card of ONE 171: Qatar at 6PM AST/10AM ET! #ONE171 #VisitQatar | Main Card at 6PM AST
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 20, 2025
How to watch https://t.co/nSmoiagle6
Live TV… pic.twitter.com/xpWFCHoYW1
Comeback KING Joshua Pacio survives a grappling onslaught from Jarred Brooks to score an epic second-round TKO and unify the ONE Strawweight MMA World Title in their rubber match! @visitqatar @qatarcalendar#ONE171 #VisitQatar | LIVE NOW
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 20, 2025
How To Watch … pic.twitter.com/htvbaplOxa
Michael Chandler.
In. Camp. #UFC314 pic.twitter.com/d4U3i37m4v
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) February 20, 2025
Islam Makhachev’s manager has thoughts.
Topuria vs Dustin/Charles contender fight, to prove he’s legit lightweight. So we don’t have to defeat another ‘small featherweight’ We need big fight that make sense for everyone.
— Rizvan Magomedov (@Rizvan_RM) February 20, 2025
We already gave chances to featherweight champ that was reigning for long time.
Respect.
Whenever I said UFC 243 was my first tittle defense, some get salty. I consider my “Interim” tittle win a tittle win, any fight after that is considered a tittle defense and a unification. Two things can be true at the same time . @DustinPoirier and I won our belts on the same… https://t.co/aVrJDSlb7X
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) February 20, 2025
Appreciate you bro!!! https://t.co/YEmPlwyjwJ
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) February 20, 2025
Perspective.
I really feel bad for these fighters that are just in idle. That’s the worst feeling. Fighters are always looking forward to what’s next, the next opportunity. That’s what gets them out of bed with a purpose to exhaust themselves every day. Without that, it feels dim. https://t.co/3YaURF8KWC
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) February 20, 2025
FINAL THOUGHTS
Man, I go to bed early one time and all Hell breaks loose. Well, at least UFC 314 and UFC 315 are looking like good cards. We need them after some of the shows we’ve had this year already.
EXIT POLL
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