Israel Adesanya already has his subsequent project booked with a struggle towards Nassourdine Imavov in February, however he’s positively maintaining a tally of Khamzat Chimaev as a future opponent.
That will not have been a matchup on his radar till he noticed Chimaev decimate former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker again in October at UFC 308. On that night time, Chimaev scored an early takedown after which locked on a fight-ending face crank/rear-naked choke that really broke a number of of Whittaker’s tooth from the great strain utilized to his face.
“I used to be stunned on the manner Khamzat ran by way of Rob,” Adesanya stated on his YouTube channel. “That was loopy. That was like wow. That made me wish to struggle him. I used to be like OK, shit, this man’s truly actually, actually good.”
Following his win over Whittaker, Chimaev was declared the brand new No. 1 contender at 185 kilos. Nevertheless, he’s not booked for the following title shot.
As an alternative, former champion Sean Strickland travels to Australia in February to problem reigning middleweight king Dricus du Plessis in a rematch after they first met in January 2024. As a lot as Chimaev appeared to leap the road together with his dominant win over Whittaker, Adesanya had a sense the UFC was nonetheless going to guide du Plessis towards Strickland.
“I knew they had been going to go together with this struggle as a result of I knew it was coming,” Adesanya stated. “They already organized it so I wasn’t like, ‘What?’”
So far as his personal struggle goes, Adesanya appears to bounce again from two straight losses for the primary time in his profession after he fell to du Plessis and Strickland in consecutive fights.
His return on the Feb. 1 UFC Battle Night time card in Saudi Arabia can be the primary time since 2018 that Adesanya isn’t competing on nor headlining a pay-per-view occasion. That may seem to be a slight to some however Adesanya took no offense in any way to this specific reserving.
“I nonetheless receives a commission,” Adesanya stated. “There’s nonetheless a referee. There’s two of us in there. There’s nonetheless a crowd. So it’s not within the f*cking APEX or one thing. It doesn’t really feel any completely different. I feel individuals are making it out to be one thing how they’d react to it however they’re not in my sneakers. They’re not in my shorts.
“Yeah it’s completely different like, ‘Oh my God it should be consuming him alive to be on a Battle Night time.’ I used to be like, it’s a Saudi Arabia Battle Night time. I nonetheless receives a commission.”
That is additionally the primary non-title struggle for Adesanya since he grew to become an interim UFC champion again in 2019.
Within the 5 years since then, the 35-year-old Nigerian-born fighter has change into one of many largest stars within the UFC with title bouts throughout two divisions whereas remaining close to the highest of the pound-for-pound rankings over time. He’s in a distinct place now however that doesn’t essentially trouble him.
Adesanya is taking his struggle towards Imavov and each future opponent as a problem to proceed to indicate off his enhancements, whereas hopefully including a number of extra accolades to his résumé alongside the best way.
In reality, Adesanya has one very particular objective in thoughts that has nothing to do with reclaiming his UFC title.
“As a result of I can,” Adesanya stated about why he’s nonetheless combating. “And I’m actually, actually good at it. I nearly forgot how nice I used to be.
“I’ve achieved my desires on this recreation. I nonetheless have some extra desires to attain however the primary ones I’ve [achieved]. I’m gonna positively get a submission. That’s positively a giant one. I don’t even care in regards to the belt. I wish to get somebody’s f*cking ankle or neck.”
