Israel Adesanya is going to make huge changes to his training as the 35-year-old prepares for his next fight camp.
Israel Adesanya To Make Key Changes Ahead Of Next Fight Camp
According to the Last Stylebender’s coach, Eugene Bareman, the former middleweight champion is going to make some drastic changes to his camp for an upcoming UFC bout against Nassourdine Imavov.
This will be Adesanya’s first non-title fight for over six years, after suffering defeats in three of his last four fights in the Octagon.
His last fight came at UFC 305 in August 2024, as the New Zealand/Nigerian fighter was submitted by Dricus Du Plessis – which came a year after his defeat to Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
Du Plessis will defend his title against Strickland once again in February, as the two headline UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia.
Adesanya is hoping to dominate his next opponent and earn a shot to reclaim his 185 pound title against the winner of Du Plessis vs Strickland.
His coach spoke about what has been changed for Adesanya to help end a run of two straight defeats, highlighting what is being done differently.
Eugene Bareman said (Via Combat TV): “There’s a few things that I’m doing quite differently with Izzy for this fight. They’re a lot more drastic to what I’m usually accustomed to doing.”
Adesanya has been with his coach at City Kickboxing for several years, as Bareman is the head trainer and founder – helping Adesanya win the title in 2019.
City Kickboxing is located in Auckland, New Zealand and has been the home to several fighters across the UFC including Alexander Volkanovski, Kai Kara-France, Dan Hooker and Carlos Ulberg.
Baremand spoke about Adesanya’s recent dip, saying: “I like to take things very steady and take it kind of: if it’s not broken, there’s no need to fix it. Based on Adesanya’s past performances I felt we needed to really flip things on its head a bit.
“And yeah he’s looking really, really good and responding really, really well to this slightly different approach—something that he hasn’t been used to for the last few camps.
“So he’s responding really well and he’s looking really, really good. I’m looking for a very vintage performance from Israel and so far we’re right on track for that.”
