I had high hopes for Israel Adesanya to bounce back and regain his lofty footing among the MMA elite last Sunday, but alas, it was not meant to be.
Father time, after all, stands undefeated, and “The Last Stylebender” is just the latest fighter to succumb to its ravages.
UFC 305. There had been some bad blood brewing between Adesanya (24-4) and Dircus Du Plesses (22-2) owing to a beef regarding who was the true “African” champion.
Some may find that too trivial, but it was serious enough to upset Du Plesses because of some reference to his family, which he took personally.
The fight was quite evenly matched up to that pivotal moment wherein Du Plesses managed to submit Adesanya, and this is where age and wear and tear became a factor.
Adesanya was still great and exhibited his multi-faceted game to everyone’s delight, but Du Plesses, younger by six years, edged him in physicality and just had a little bit more when it mattered.
In the penultimate sequence, Du Plesses managed to land a few shots that stunned Adesanya and then landed a takedown. He then jumped on Adesanya’s back to leverage the submission, the first time Adesanya had ever been submitted in his storied career.
Adesanya took his gloves off in the octagon after the loss—usually taken to be a sign that a fighter is retiring—but afterward he clarified that he was soldiering on.
He has now lost three of his last four fights, but I agree that there’s still some juice left in that tank, and fight fans would love for him to go for one more title run and see how it goes.
The middleweight division right now is one of the deepest in recent years. You have Rob Whitaker, Sean Strickland (who defeated Adesanya at UFC 293), Khamzat Chimaev, and, of course, Adesanya.
Alex Pereira (who is 1-1 against Adesanya) has indicated he is still in the mix, and a trilogy against Adesanya would indeed be a crowd-drawer.
VERBATIM. “You’ll see me when you see me again, so enjoy me while I’m here because you’ll miss me when I’m gone,” Israel Adesanya said in a post-fight interview.
LAST ROUND. It’s on one of my closest friends, Dr. Gerrry Ypil who recently celebrated his birthday. Cheers Bro!