Israel Adesanya drops out of pound-for-pound list as Aljamain Sterling returns

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is out of the pound-for-pound list with Aljamain Sterling taking his place.

Over the course of the last six years plus, Israel Adesanya has been making a name for himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He has served as one of the most entertaining fighters of his generation, and it’s been phenomenal to watch him win the UFC middleweight title not once, but twice.

RELATED: Coach explains why Israel Adesanya’s defeat to Sean Strickland is a tougher pill to swallow than loss to Dricus du Plessis: “The Strickland loss, he’ll never get over”

Now, however, he’s at something of a crossroads. After losing the belt to Sean Strickland in shocking fashion, he took a year off from the sport. Then, ‘Stylebender’ opted to challenge the new champion Dricus du Plessis for the strap. Unfortunately for the former king, he fell short in a submission defeat to the South African superstar.

Now, as per the official UFC.com list, he is out of the pound-for-pound rankings for the first time in five years.

Aljo in, Izzy out.

For the first time since September 2nd, 2019 Israel Adesanya is not a part of the UFC P4P rankings. pic.twitter.com/rZZNhFDvT0

— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) September 10, 2024

Adesanya out of pound-for-pound top 15 rankings

1 – Islam Makhachev

2 – Alex Pereira

3 – Jon Jones

4 – Ilia Topuria

5 – Dricus du Plessis

6 – Sean O’Malley

6 – Belal Muhammad

8 – Tom Aspinall

9 – Leon Edwards

10 – Alexander Volkanovski

11 – Max Holloway

12 – Alexandre Pantoja

13 – Sean Strickland

14 – Charles Oliveira

15 – Aljamain Sterling (NR)

In Israel’s mind, we can’t imagine this will bother him too much. His focus is on proving himself to the watching world and if that means he isn’t in the P4P top 15 right now, that’s fine. At this point, it’s all about waiting and watching to see what his next move is.

What do you believe Israel Adesanya should do next in mixed martial arts? Do you think he will ever be a world champion again? Let us know your thoughts on this, BJPENN Nation!