Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya somewhat forecasted questions about his potential demise when he said at media day on Wednesday that his legacy would go unaffected no matter how many losses he takes in a row going forward.
The skid now sits at a career-worst three consecutive fights, and already questions about what this downturn, which includes four defeats in his past five overall dating back to November 2022, means for the outlook on his career.
Context is always important, and Adesanya’s defeats came against Strickland and Du Plessis, who as previously mentioned meet for the belt next week, and now Imavov. This one is particularly notable, however, because it was the first time in Adesanya’s entire MMA career that he’s lost a non-title bout.
Adesanya has been magical in the UFC and given us tremendous moments. But with so many fights and miles on his body, and his 36th birthday coming this summer, this defeat could be examined as a true turning point away from contention.
It’s too soon to have the retirement conversation for Adesanya. If he wants to give that a look for himself then that’s completely within his rights, but there are still winnable fights for him in the middleweight division. But to what degree in competition he wants to downgrade himself is what is ultimately going to determine if he can get his hand raised again.
This felt like the official end point of putting Adesanya in any proximity to a UFC championship. Now it’s a question of how many, and if any, more high points he can rack up along the way.
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