Israel Adesanya in high spirits despite UFC 305 loss to Dricus du Plessis: “I could fight this weekend”
Despite his UFC 305 loss to Dricus du Plessis, former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is in high spirits.
‘The Last Stylebender’ returned to the cage in Australia over the weekend. Back for the first time since a loss to Sean Strickland a year ago, the former middleweight champion faced Dricus du Plessis. ‘Stillknocks’ won the title from ‘Tarzan’ in January, and set his sights on Israel Adesanya as his first title challenger.
For the first four rounds, the two middleweights went back and forth. While Israel Adesanya had the edge on the feet, he couldn’t seem to figure out the champion’s odd style. In the fourth frame, Dricus du Plessis dragged down the former titleholder and scored a shocking submission win. With the loss, Adesanya had lost three of his last four fights.
However, the former champion doesn’t feel bad about his performance. Earlier today, Israel Adesanya discussed his UFC 305 defeat in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel. There, the former middleweight champion gave props to Dricus du Plessis, despite their heated rivalry entering the contest.
Israel Adesanya breaks silence following UFC 305 loss to Dricus du Plessis
In the video, Israel Adesanya also shut down any talk of retirement. In fact, the former champion feels so good, that he could fight this weekend if he really wanted to. However, Adesanya also added that he’s not sure when he will return to the cage. While he still feels good despite his age and recent losses, the Nigerian-born fighter wants some time to reset and recover.
“I don’t know[when I will fight again] but enjoy me while I’m here man.” Israel Adesanya stated in the YouTube video, discussing his UFC 305 loss to Dricus du Plessis. “Enjoy me while I fight. I started watching the fight and I was literally like ‘f*ck, I could go again!’ haha. I could go again, I still feel good, I could fight this weekend.”
He continued, “But like, eh. We’ll see [when I fight again]. I just want to get back to the gym, get training again and we’ll reset. Regroup. Yeah, we’ll see [what happens next].”
What do you make of these comments from the former UFC middleweight champion? Who do you want to see Israel Adesanya fight next?
