Israel Adesanya News

Israel Adesanya
UFC

Israel Adesanya teases potential return at UFC 300: "The gods must be crazy"

Cole Shelton - February 1, 2024

Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is teasing a return at UFC 300. Adesanya is coming off a decision loss to Sean Strickland in September to lose his middleweight title and after the fight, he said he would be taking some much-needed time off. ‘The Last Stylebender’ originally joked he would be off until 2027, but clarified he’s focusing on quality fights and not quantity in the back-end of his career.

Israel Adesanya
UFC

Israel Adesanya’s coach names three fighters as “the most obvious options” for his UFC return

Susan Cox - January 26, 2024

Israel Adesanya’s coach has named three fighters as ‘the most obvious options’ for his return to the UFC. Mike Angove of ‘City Kickboxing’ shared with ‘Sky Sports New Zealand’ that Adesanya is back but the decision of when and who he will fight in the Octagon lies in the hands of the UFC:

Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus du Plessis
Israel Adesanya

Robert Whittaker explains why he’s picking “awkward” Dricus du Plessis to defeat Israel Adesanya

Harry Kettle - January 26, 2024

UFC star Robert Whittaker has explained why he’s picking Dricus du Plessis to defeat Israel Adesanya in their rumored showdown. Last weekend, Dricus du Plessis made a pretty emphatic statement when defeated Sean Strickland to become the new UFC middleweight champion. The win completed his meteoric rise to the top of the 185-pound division.

Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus du Plessis
Israel Adesanya

Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya grudge match odds revealed

Zain Bando - January 23, 2024

Just days after winning the UFC middleweight title, discussions of a potential blockbuster fight between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya are beginning to ramp up so much so that Las Vegas oddsmakers have noted how the bout looks from a betting perspective. Dricus Du Plessis’ upset over Sean Strickland made him the first-ever UFC champion from South Africa and the fourth African-born UFC champion in promotional history. The victory improved his UFC mark to 7-0, adding to an impressive Octagon resume.

Israel Adesanya
UFC

REPORT | Israel Adesanya isn't ready to fight on UFC 300 card in Las Vegas

Fernando Quiles - January 21, 2024

It isn’t looking like Israel Adesanya will be featured on the UFC 300 card. Fight fans are eagerly anticipating the historic event, which is set to take place inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 13. While the card is shaping up quite nicely with some marquee fights, many believe the missing ingredient is a strong main event.

Dricus du Plessis
Israel Adesanya

Dricus du Plessis says callout of Israel Adesanya is nothing personal: “UFC 300 sounds amazing”

Harry Kettle - January 21, 2024

UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has made it clear that there’s nothing personal behind his callout of Israel Adesanya. Last night at UFC 297, Dricus du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland via split decision to become the new king of the middleweights. The two men engaged in a back and forth war, with many scorecards being all over the place across social media.

Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis
Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya responds to callout from UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis: “This arc in my story was written long ago”

Chris Taylor - January 21, 2024

Israel Adesanya has responded after being called out by newly crowned UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis. Du Plessis (21-2 MMA) got his first crack at UFC gold this evening in Toronto when he challenged Sean Strickland (28-6 MMA) for the promotion’s undisputed 185lbs title.

Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan dismisses idea Israel Adesanya underestimated Sean Strickland in title loss: "He's just that good"

Josh Evanoff - January 19, 2024

UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes that Sean Strickland is just that good ahead of his first middleweight title defense. ‘Tarzan’ is currently slated to make his first UFC title defense tomorrow night, in Toronto, Canada. In the pay-per-view main event, Sean Strickland will face the rising South African, Dricus du Plessis. ‘Stillknocks’ earned the title opportunity with a knockout win over Robert Whittaker last July.

Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya

Sean Strickland responds after Israel Adesanya picks Dricus Du Plessis to win at UFC 297: "Shut your f*****g mouth"

Cole Shelton - January 18, 2024

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has responded to Israel Adesanya picking Dricus Du Plessis to beat him at UFC 297. Strickland is coming off a one-sided decision win over Adesanya in September to become the new middleweight champion. It was a shocking result, and ‘The Last Stylebender’ doesn’t see the American’s reign lasting long as he believes Du Plessis’ wrestling and grappling will be the difference.

Sean-Strickland-Israel-Adesanya
Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland on a potential rematch with Israel Adesanya at UFC 300: “How much are you paying me?”

Susan Cox - January 18, 2024

Sean Strickland is addressing the idea of a potential rematch with Israel Adesanya at UFC 300. It was Sean Strickland (28-5 MMA) vs. Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA) in a middleweight title fight last September at UFC 293.

Sean Strickland
Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland responds after being labeled a hypocrite by Israel Adesanya, Ian Garry and other UFC fighters: “Do you think I give a f**k?”

Susan Cox - January 18, 2024

Sean Strickland is responding after being labeled a hypocrite by Israel Adesanya, Ian Garry and other UFC fighters. Strickland, 32, is known for trash talking opponents (and others) leading up to or following fights. As of late, fighters, like ‘The Last Stylebender‘, have come forward saying that while he can easily hand out the trash talk, he can’t take it.

Dricus Du Plessis, UFC, Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya

Dricus du Plessis reveals the “mistake” Israel Adesanya made in UFC 293 fight with Sean Strickland: “He just saw a guy that is not on his level”

Harry Kettle - January 18, 2024

UFC star Dricus du Plessis has explained the mistake he believes Israel Adesanya made against Sean Strickland. At UFC 293, Sean Strickland shocked the world. He defeated Israel Adesanya to claim the UFC middleweight championship, and he did so with relative ease. Now, just four months later, he has the chance to defend what he earned when he goes head to head with Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297.

Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, UFC 297, UFC
Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya takes aim at Sean Strickland for getting “triggered” over trash talk from Dricus Du Plessis

Susan Cox - January 17, 2024

Israel Adesanya has taken aim at Sean Strickland for getting ‘triggered’ over the trash talk from Dricus Du Plessis. UFC 297 is taking place on Saturday, January 20th at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Sean-Strickland-Israel-Adesanya
Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland offers unique theory why Israel Adesanya 'crumbled' against him at UFC 293

Josh Evanoff - January 16, 2024

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland believes Israel Adesanya’s mental state led to his upset win. ‘Tarzan’ is currently slated to return to the octagon this Saturday night. In the main event of UFC 293, Sean Strickland will look to defeat the rising Dricus du Plessis. ‘Stillknocks’ earned the title opportunity last July, scoring a knockout win over Robert Whittaker. The South African then faced off with Israel Adesanya, in a fight that might not happen.

Israel Adesanya training
UFC

Israel Adesanya shares timeline for UFC return after suffering an undisclosed injury

Susan Cox - January 11, 2024

Israel Adesanya is sharing a timeline for his UFC return after suffering an undisclosed injury. The former middleweight champion, Adesanya (24-3 MMA) last fought and was defeated by Sean Strickland (28-5 MMA) last September at UFC 293.

Israel Adesanya
UFC

Israel Adesanya avoids conviction for drunk driving charge, but receives fine among other penalties

Cole Shelton - January 10, 2024

Israel Adesanya avoided conviction for his drunk driving charge in New Zealand. Adesanya was charged on August 19 for drunk driving as he was operating a car with 87 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, which is over the legal limit of 50 milligrams. The maximum penalty for the drunk driving charge is a term of imprisonment of three months or a fine of $4500. The incident happened just weeks before his title defense against Sean Strickland which he lost by decision.

Israel Adesanya training
UFC

Israel Adesanya opens up on decision to take UFC hiatus: "I missed the beast"

Josh Evanoff - January 8, 2024

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya felt that he badly needed time off after his last fight. ‘The Last Stylebender’ has been out of the octagon since a clash with Sean Strickland last September. Fighting in Australia in the main event of UFC 293, Israel Adesanya approached the title defense as any other. The normally-active middleweight had famously re-captured the title from Alex Pereira just months prior, by knockout.

Sean-Strickland-Israel-Adesanya
Sean Strickland

Israel Adesanya reveals his corner advised him against going for broke in fifth round of UFC title fight with Sean Strickland

Susan Cox - January 8, 2024

Israel Adesanya has revealed that his corner advised him against going for broke in the fifth round of his UFC title fight with Sean Strickland. UFC 293, which took place in September of last year, saw the then current champion Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA) take on Sean Strickland (28-5 MMA) in a middleweight title bout.