Israel Adesanya doesn’t need anyone to tell him about his poor showing against Sean Strickland in 2023, because he remembers it all too well.
After he finally exacted revenge on Alex Pereira with a vicious knockout in April 2023, Adesanya was supposed to face Dricus du Plessis next but an injury prevented the South African fighter from competing at a scheduled date in September. So Adesanya drew Strickland as a challenger instead, but the matchup almost seemed like a way to keep him busy until du Plessis could recover and set up a showdown between the heated rivals.
That’s not how things played out though, as Strickland scored a near finish in the first round then dominated the majority of the action over 25 minutes. Afterward, Adesanya acknowledged he needed some time off to recover and reflect on arguably his worst showing since arriving in UFC in 2018.
“Look, my last fight was atrocious for myself,” Adesanya said during UFC 305 media day. “I was not happy with that fight.
“Fans, the media [say] you’re only as good as your last fight. They keep all these f*cking sayings that don’t make sense anymore. You’re only as good as your last fight? I don’t get it, but at the same time, I’m like, OK.”
While he may not agree that the sum of his parts only comes down to his lone fight against Strickland, Adesanya used it as fuel to get him ready for his comeback.
He plans on putting that on display come Saturday night against du Plessis.
“For me, even this weekend, I kind of want to do what I have to do, and when I do it, then people are going to be like, ‘F*ck, how did we not see this coming?” Adesanya said. “How did we underestimate that he was going to do this? Amazing.’ It’s just time to remind people.”
When it comes to having dirt prematurely tossed on his grave after a bad night at the office, Adesanya isn’t totally unfamiliar with the concept, even if he doesn’t agree with it.
The same thing happened after he lost his middleweight title the first time around in his initial UFC encounter against Pereira in 2022.
“They said that after New York when I fought Alex Pereira,” Adesanya said. “They were like ‘He’s done, he should pack up.’ They always say some dumb shit like that. But a lot of these fans, they’ve never done what we’ve done.
“I don’t really pay attention to that stuff. I know what I can do. My team knows what I can do. It’s just time to show people what I can do.”
The time off combined with some changes to his preparation has Adesanya feeling as confident as ever going into his fight against du Plessis.
Adesanya has downplayed the personal rivalry between them in the days leading up to the fight and he’s not even putting much emphasis on the UFC title on the line.
While these two have shared some intense moments together, Adesanya and du Plessis avoided any undue animosity when their fight was first announced and met on stage during a press conference to promote tickets going on sale. That said, Adesanya shared an intense moment with the reigning UFC middleweight champ when they finally came face-to-face.
“He tried to puffer fish me and he realized pretty quickly I’m not the one you can just try and blow smoke at,” Adesanya said. “He felt my energy. He understands. He knows who he’s dealing with now.
“That moment right there let him know. He got to look into my eyes and see who I am. I don’t know what brought it on, but it’s just déjà vu. I’ve been here before. I’ve battled with the best. No one can intimidate me. He definitely won’t do that.”
If all goes well on Saturday, Adesanya will not only become a three-time UFC middleweight champion, but he could potentially set himself up for a rematch against Strickland after UFC CEO Dana White named Strickland the No. 1 contender for the title.
As much as that loss to Strickland bugs him, Adesanya promises that’s the last thing on his mind with a fight against du Plessis still in front of him.
“I’m different now,” Adesanya explained. “I’m not trying to look towards the future. I’m putting everything on this fight. I’m not a guy who needs to fight for the belt because I’ve never done it before. ‘This is my one dream.’ No, I’m just focused on this fight, beat this guy up and then I’ll deal with whatever comes next when it comes.”
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