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Despite a defeat on is return for the UFC Middleweight title, Israel Adesanya has declared he isn’t hanging his gloves yet.
Adesanya, 35, lost to South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis and the division’s champion in the fourth round by submission – the first in his career.
Speaking after the fight which held in Perth, Australia early morning Sunday, The Last StyleBender admitted his defeat was self-inflicted after a “stupid mistake” on the mat.
That error allowed the Champion pounce and effect a rare gable grip choke forcing the Nigerian to tap out.
Dricus Du Plessis secures a rear choke submission against the former Champion. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
In the post fight, when asked about Dricus’ statement about the 35 year-old’s last dance, alluding to when he removed his gloves after the fight, he responded:
“People will just read too much into sh*t, but for me, who knows what happens; Life is fleeting.”
“Anything can happen, he might never come back if something happens to him – anyone of us in this room could go tomorrow.”
“So, I try and take each fight and each moment as if it was my last. I only took off my gloves because it was tight after the fight, He has got some strong head, I hit him with some shots, so my hands was – not broken not even close – but just a little bit sore.
“And so that’s why I took the gloves off but nothing about retiring. No! No!! No!!! I told you I’m not f**king leaving, I’m not f**king leaving until I wanna leave.”
It was Israel Adesanya’s 12th title fight, which he also admitted was a surreal realization, but it was also his second consecutive professional loss – which he joked was historic in itself.
What Next?
The Lagos-born fighter, who is the first two-time UFC Middleweight champion is not considering a immediate return to action.
Israel Adesanya reacts after his submission loss against Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
He has also suggested there might never be another dominant era for Africa in the sport after the “Three Kings”, referring to a time in when Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usman and himself dominated their divisions as Champions.
“Eventually, you’ll see me when you see me, but you’ll see me at middleweight and whoever I fight here; I don’t even know who I’ll fight next, I haven’t really thought that far. But yeah, we’ll see,” the Last StyleBender said about his future.
