If Israel Adesanya was to never fight again, Eugene Bareman is grateful for the journey they’ve had in the UFC.
A former standout kickboxer, Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) made waves upon entering the UFC in 2018. His interim middleweight title-winning performance over Kelvin Gastelum earned them a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame fight wing, and his knockout of Robert Whittaker to unify the belts at UFC 243 was one of the best of his career.
Adesanya defended his middleweight title five times before losing it to rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281. However, he was able to avenge that loss and reclaim the belt when he knocked out Pereira in their rematch at UFC 287. Now Adesanya finds himself in unfamiliar waters on a three-fight skid and losing four of his past five.
While Adesanya hasn’t necessarily hinted at retirement, his City Kickboxing head coach, Bareman, admits he isn’t sure what’s next.
“Izzy is being Izzy, but I don’t know what he’s doing next, but that’s a good place to be,” Bareman told Combat TV. “Yeah, he’s just doing him. I don’t know. It’s just – yeah, if he was going to fight again, then he’s going to fight again. If he’s not, then we’ve been blessed, I’ve been blessed, the world’s been blessed, the team’s been blessed. But yeah, it’s completely up to him.”
Adesanya’s most recent outing came in February when he was knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov in the UFC Fight Night 250 headliner in Saudi Arabia. Prior to that, he lost back-to-back title fights to Sean Strickland and current UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis.
