Israel Adesanya remembers a conversation with Dana White that proved to be prophetic.
Prior to Adesanya’s title defense against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in September 2023, the UFC CEO warned Adesanya that his level of activity and willingness to take on any opponent could be catching up to him. Adesanya went on to lose a lopsided decision to Strickland, which marked the end of his second middleweight championship reign and the start of a career-worst, three-fight slump.
Adesanya recalled the exchange on a recent episode of his Young Man Ramble show.
“I was like, ‘No, I have to fight in Sydney. I have to fight. I haven’t fought on this side of the world in so long,’” Adesanya said. “And then Dana was like, ‘Listen, kid. You’ve got enough money. Just chill out for a little while.’
“So I was like, ‘Nah.’ I went all stubborn, and then in hindsight I’m like maybe Dana was right. Maybe I should have just chilled. But again, look, I love these stories. This is how it’s supposed to happen. Adversity is a privilege. Amen.”
Since that loss, Adesanya has struggled to get back on track. He was granted a chance to become a three-time champion at UFC 305, but was submitted by rival Dricus du Plessis, and then lost his first non-title fight since 2019 when he was stopped by Nassourdine Imavov this past February.
At 35, “The Last Stylebender” has made it clear he plans to be more selective with his remaining fights, and he’d like one of them to be Strickland someday.
“Definitely,” Adesanya said when asked by guest Sean O’Malley if he still wants a rematch with Strickland. “That’s on my list. But again, not for anyone else, just for myself because [my brother] kind of let one of the cats out the bag about the activity and my body and whatnot and we all go into fights banged up, but that one I was just like... We’ve done the work, I’ve taken my time to heal myself and stuff and I’m only fighting, what, two, maybe three times a year.
“The Strickland one for me, it’s just like, I just want to know he beat the best version of me. Then I’m, like, cool.”
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