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USA Today
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Israel Adesanya reveals surprising details about UFC debut salary
Israel Adesanya reveals surprising details about UFC debut salary Israel Adesanya didn't earn the average salary for his UFC debut. He made well north of it. Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) entered the UFC with some buzz from his decorated kickboxing career and drew Rob Wilkinson in his promotional debut at UFC 221 in February 2021. He won by second-round TKO and was one of two Performance of the Night winners in Perth, Australia. "My UFC debut, I didn't make the 10 and 10 (thousand) like everyone else," Adesanya said on the "Pound 4 Pound" podcast. "I made six figures and then I made a 50K bonus on top of that. Stole the show from – who was the main event? (Luke) Rockhold vs. Yoel (Romero), I believe. I felt like I stole the show, people were talking about me, and I was f*cking on top of the world." Despite the standout performance, Adesanya didn't feel the high he expected. "I'd go home, and I'd just f*cking crash," Adesanya said. "I didn't understand. For me, that's when I started going to therapy because I realized like OK, this is – I don't want to say this is bad, but it was bad. I was like, 'Damn, I shouldn't be sad.' And then you feel guilty for feeling sad. You're like, 'Why am I depressed?' "I figured it out. It's the stimulus. You're the man, this, that, cameras, lights, action. Then I go home, and I'm in my dark room, and I just chill, and there's no stimulus. It's like coffee. The coffee high, and then when the coffee stimulus wears off, you have the crash. It's like that but for your spirit." Adesanya said it took until his fourth UFC fight against Derek Brunson to figure out how to regulate his emotions. "The Last Stylebender" went on to have a Hall of Fame worthy career by capturing the UFC middleweight title twice, with five title defenses in his first reign. Adesanya, 35, is currently on a three-fight losing streak after suffering a second-round TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov on Feb. 1.
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya reveals the name of potential opponent for his comeback bout - 'You will like this one'
Fighters in the world of combat sports draw their motivation and inspiration from different sources. Most of the renowned fighters draw their motivation from the childhood experiences of their lives, owing to bullying and survival-based needs. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya , too, was bullied as a kid. Rising up from that state, the fighter has developed a commendable career arc in the world of combat sports. In a recent video on the fighter's YouTube channel, Adesanya, while training with the retired US Navy SEAL, David Goggins , revealed the name of the opponent he would want to face next. Israel Adesanya talks to retired US Navy SEAL David Goggins about his previous fights and potential comeback bout Despite a marvellous career arc, Israel Adesanya's last appearance within the Octagon has been marked with a disastrous losing skid. With an MMA record of 24-5-0, the fighter's first-ever defeat came from Jan Blachowicz. Adesanya reclaimed the lost title in his bout against Marvin Vettori and defended it for two more times before finally losing it to Alex Pereira at UFC 281. Even though The Last Stylebender managed to get back the title once again in a rematch with Pereira, he lost it to Sean Strickland, and ever since, the career graph of the fighter has faced a setback with back-to-back losses. While the losing skid continued, one of the fighters that Adesanya exclusively wanted to face and have a rematch with is Strickland. Ever since their bout at UFC 293 and Strickland's unanimous win, Strickland has been continuously trash-talking Adesanya across interviews and public appearances. This has provided an extra motivation for the Nigerian fighter to bounce back on a high note. In a recent video on the fighter's YouTube channel, Adesanya had a brief talk with Former US Navy David Goggins before their scheduled workout. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now During the talk, Adesanya expressed his state of mind after the back-to-back defeats and what helped him decided to get back into the Octagon. 'I didn't spar after my last fight. I didn't spar, just cause I was looking after my brain. Then I sparred with Kamaru Usman for the first time in months. I knew once I sparred, I would want to fight.' The fighter went to reveal the name of his desired opponent, 'I told Hunter [Campbell] already. I told my coach here, it's time. I know who, I have a feeling who I wanna fight. You'll like this one. I can get some get-back: Sean Strickland' Adesanya, humbly, accepted the defeat that came from his bout with Strickland while giving the latter complete credit for his win. However, the post fight activities of Strickland was something that bothered Adesanya to the core Israel Adesanya and David Goggins Chat Before Their BRUTAL Training Session 'He beat me fair and square in Sydney, five nil. Just whooped my ass badly. That was one of the things what made me realize I need to slow down in my activity. I was fighting 3-4 a year as a champion. So I'm like, I'm gonna pull back now because I'm older. I'm doing things different. I don't wanna make excuses because he beat me. But then I just wanna show him if he beat me at my best. So, this time I'm gonna come in and correct.' The fighter continued, 'Everything he's done since that… because I used to get bullied a lot as a kid. So he's an embodiment of that in a sense. He attacked a young me, the inner child. So, I wanna protect him and get some get-back on him' Adesanya reflected on how the trash-talking by Strickland reminded the former of his childhood days when he used to get bullied. Also read: Strickland's last bout was a defeat against Dricus Du Plessis. Strickland lost the title run, which was also a rematch of the bout where the fighter lost the middleweight title after winning it from Adesanya. Even though there is no official confirmation of the bout between Adesanya and Strickland, the announcement by the Last Stylebender has generated excitement within the MMA community.
USA Today
22-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Israel Adesanya wants Sean Strickland rematch: 'I gotta get some get backs'
Israel Adesanya wants Sean Strickland rematch: 'I gotta get some get backs' Former UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya wants revenge against Sean Strickland, the fighter who ended his second title reign. Israel Adesanya is eager to get back on track by getting one back on Sean Strickland, who ended his second UFC middleweight title reign. Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) was pleased with his preparation for his first fight of 2025, but still came up short against Nassourdine Imavov in February. After 12 consecutive title fights, "The Last Stylebender" competed for the first time without gold on the line, a period stretching back to February 2019. Some believe Adesanya's best days are behind him. He acknowledges that he's older as a fighter, which has prompted changes in his approach to fighting, but is still finding inspiration in seeing friends like Alexander Volkanovski win big title fights. Despite the recent string of losses and competing less often, Adesanya recently caught the itch again after a rare sparring session with Kamaru Usman. "I didn't spar after my last fight because I did so well in the fight, so well in the camp, and I didn't get the result I wanted," Adesanya said in a video on his YouTube channel. "But I was like, I'm still proud of myself. I'm still proud of the way I worked. So then I didn't spar because I just looked after my brain, and then when I was in Miami recently watching Volk get his belt back in Miami as well, then I sparred with Kamaru Usman for the first time in months. I knew once I sparred, I'd be like, 'Man, y'all got any fights?' "So for me now, I'm like, OK, I told Hunter (Campbell) already, I told coach, that it's time. I just knew, and I know who. I have a feeling who I want to fight. You'll like this one. I gotta get some get back. Strickland. I'm gonna get him back." At UFC 293, Strickland clearly defeated Adesanya on the scorecards with identical 49-46 scores across the board to win the middleweight title and end Adesanya's second reign. It was a stark contrast to the fight prior, where Adesanya created one of the best highlights in recent history by knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC 287 to reclaim the title he lost to Pereira six months prior. Adesanya credits Strickland for his performance that fateful night in Australia, but if he gets the rematch, this time around he'll be doing it for the younger version of Adesanya who was bullied as a kid. "Because he beat me fair and square in Sydney, five-nil," Adesanya said when asked by David Goggins why he wants to rematch Strickland. "Just whooped my ass badly. And again, that was one of the things what made me realize that I need to slow down in my activity. I was fighting like three, four times a year as a champion. So, I was like, I'm going to pull back now because I'm older, I'm doing things different. So, I don't want to make excuses, because he beat me, but then I just want to show him, if you beat me at my best. This time, I'm gonna come at him correct." "Everything he's done since that – because, I used to get bullied a lot as a kid," Adesanya said. "So, he's an embodiment of that in a sense. He attacked the young me, the inner child. So, I just want to protect him and get some get back for him."
USA Today
19-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Yoel Romero offers former UFC rival Israel Adesanya advice amid losing skid
Yoel Romero thinks Israel Adesanya needs to taper down in training if he wants to rebound. Former UFC middleweight champion Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) is on a three-fight losing skid after suffering a TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov in February. Romero, who lost a decision to Adesanya in their 2020 title fight at UFC 248, wants to see 'The Last Stylebender' take some time off before fighting again. 'Israel, he needed time, he needed rest,' Romero told Submission Radio. 'That's what I think. He needs to rest a little bit because too much damage. The problem is the UFC doesn't give you time. When the UFC calls you, you need to come because you have a contract. 'Now, he needs to think about training – not too hard, not too hard in the sparring. He needs to go to training like a therapy, recovery for the body. He doesn't need now too much sparring. That is my opinion for Israel. If he wants to be back again, he needs to recover the body. But he's still training very hard. It's not good.' Adesanya did take almost a year off after his shocking upset loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in September 2023. However, Adesanya failed to reclaim his middleweight title when he was submitted by Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 last August. He then returned almost six months later to face Imavov, but fell short once again. As for Romero, the 47-year-old is still trucking. 'The Soldier of God' takes on Ras Hylton in Saturday's DBX 1 main event at The Hangar at Regatta Harbour in Miami.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Analyst: Israel Adesanya being 'a hair slower' than prime is biggest obstacle to UFC rebound
Every fighter experiences a decline, but when it happens at the highest level of the sport, the flaws that lead to it can have an even greater spotlight. That's what coach Sayif Saud sees happening to former UFC middleweight champion and future UFC Hall of Famer Israel Adesanya, who saw his losing skid hit a career-worst three fights in a knockout loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Fight Night 250 this month. After losing consecutive championship bouts to Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis, the once-longtime titleholder Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) found himself in a different spot. His streak of 12 consecutive title fights was over and he was in a non-title bout for the first time since 2019 against a surging contender in Imavov. He said all the right things heading in, and started with a strong first round. But then it fell apart. Imavov landed a big punch on Adesanya in the second round that rocked "The Last Stylebender." He pounded and got the knockout finish in what was a breakthrough moment for his career, but the post-fight narrative was firmly on Adesanya and what his future holds. Saud, who is the head coach at Fortis MMA and was an Analyst of the Year nominee at the 16th annual World MMA Awards, saw this is a natural progression of Adesanya's career. At 35 and with more than 100 combat sports bouts on his record, Saud thinks Adesanya is experiencing the slightest fallout in what were once his strongest attributes. "I look at that fight and just think about how incredible Izzy has been and what he's done," Saud told MMA Junkie. "I see everybody and they're like sad. It's kind like mourning this great fighter. But this happens to every single fighter after a certain point, because they fight at the very elite level. The thing about these champions is once they get to that level, everybody you fight is on the way up and is the very best of the new breed or the new generation or whatever. Nassourdine is a good example of that. He's five or six or seven years younger than Izzy, in his prime and hungry. It's constantly like being at the very tip of the sphere against the most amount of danger, and how long can you do that for? "At 35 years old, if you're just a hair slower, just a hair, just like Roy Jones Jr. The guy was all reflexes. He would hit people and come back and they couldn't even touch him. He got just a hair slower and that was the difference. So I think that's what we're seeing with Izzy. I still think he looked really, really good in the fight. I think he can beat tons of people. I think he can beat Nassourdine in a fight. But with the style that he has and the way that he strikes, in that division with the young guys coming up (it's tough)." Although Adesanya has yet to make a definitive statement about what his fighting future holds, his path to victories aren't going to get any easier. Unless he takes a dramatic step down in competition, Saud said everyone who enters the octagon with Adesanya will be studying him closely and coming for his head in this vulnerable position. Reigning champion Du Plessis said he thinks Adesanya does not have another title run in him, and Saud tends to agree we are witnessing a turnover with the elite at 185 pounds. "We see a big shift coming in the middleweight division," Saud said. "That was an example." Din Thomas says Israel Adesanya's fall happens to most UFC greats Kamaru Usman encourages Israel Adesanya to follow Anderson Silva's approach Sean Strickland shares uplifting message with Israel Adesanya after UFC Saudi Arabia loss To hear more of Saud's analysis of Adesanya's loss and future, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Analyst: Israel Adesanya being 'a hair slower' than prime is biggest obstacle to UFC rebound
