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Israel Adesanya remains quietly confident he will rule the UFC’s middleweight division for a third time after a “bad dream” of a fight.
The two-time champion lost his belt in one of the biggest championship upsets in the history of the UFC, by the hands of American Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in Sydney earlier this month.
Adesanya, who was dropped by a big right hand in the opening round, was comfortably out-pointed in a five round unanimous decision defeat.
Adesanya (24-3), has broken his silence on the monumental upset via his own YouTube channel in an interview with his brother David Adesanya, after watching the fight back for the first time.
The City Kickboxing fighter said he is still dissecting and processing his own performance, something that often takes him several weeks whether he wins or loses.
Mark Evans/Getty Images
Israel Adesanya had limited success against Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
But one thing he does know for sure, he wasn’t happy with the performance and did not enjoy watching it back.
“But I have to watch it, so I can learn from it,” Adesanya said on his channel named FREESTYLEBENDER.
“It felt like a bad dream,” he said.
Adesanya described the feeling as noodle arms, where he just didn’t have the power and synergy in his shots.
“I had no snap. It just felt weird,” he said.
“I just couldn’t go.”
Mark Evans/Getty Images
Sean Strickland’s upset victory over Israel Adesanya was one of the biggest in UFC championship history.
But after watching the fight back, and then talking to his coach Eugene Bareman, Adesanya said he feels quietly confident about his chances of regaining his title.
Adesanya’s first title reign ended when he was knocked out in the final round of his fight with Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in November last year. He rematched Pereira at UFC 287 in April and won via knockout.
Outside of Strickland’s team and supporters, almost nobody picked him to shock Adesanya.
The Nigerian-born-Kiwi superstar said he didn’t feel right inside the UFC Octagon but refused to make excuses for the loss.
“It was his night, and he got it done,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel.
“It was also the way he worked,” he said. “He just never let me get into my rhythm.”
“I wasn’t able to get into my rhythm because of his pressure, he was right there constantly and whenever I was setting him up, because he was right there, his coach would help him [with instructions].
Mark Evans/Getty Images
Sean Strickland dropped Israel Adesanya with a big right hand in the opening round.
“A good game plan from them but also from me, I wasn’t able to adjust on the fly.”
Adesanya said Strickland’s guard was unique and unorthodox so he struggled to find his jab.
Adesanya has learnt from the result and said he will also make some adjustments to his camp.
Strickland was a late replacement for Dricus du Plessis who decided not to take the fight against Adesanya on a quick backup after defeating Robert Whittaker at UFC 281.
Du Plessis and Adesanya clashed after that fight and some believe when that grudge match was taken from the then middleweight champion, he lost some of his venom for the fight.
One of the most active fighters in UFC history, Adesanya was non-commital on when he would be back in the UFC Octagon but confirmed he wants to reclaim his middleweight belt regardless of whether that’s against Strickland, or anyone who might take the belt off him.
Adesanya remains the No. 1 contender for Strickland’s belt but that could change if du Plessis (No.2) or Robert Whittaker (No. 3) were to chalk up another win.
If the UFC was to make the rematch with Strickland and Adesanya immediately, the fight would be a huge event for the promotion given the Kiwi fighter’s global fame and that may be too hard to resist.
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