Israel Adesanya has no regrets about moving up in weight and his loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259.
Over the weekend, Israel Adesanya attempted to become the fifth athlete in the UFC to capture two titles simultaneously. While his efforts were in vain, the middleweight champion gave an excellent account of himself against the bigger athlete. However, as the rounds progressed, Blachowicz’s size became a factor in the grappling exchanges which led to a near clean-sweep on the judges’ scorecards. After Blachowicz defended his title, Adesanya cleared the air following his first professional loss.
“No regrets. Adesanya exclaimed to reporters at the post fight press conference. No regrets. I feel like the boxing model has made it a bad thing to do, which, yeah it sucks losing. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s not the end of the world. Like I said, I’ve lost before in the past.”
The reigning middleweight champion seemed to take the loss well and was still motivated to compete. Not only at middleweight, but “The Last Stylebender” expressed interest in the 205lbs division despite the setback against Blachowicz.
Israel Adesanya And His Future At Light Heavyweight
At present time, the middleweight champion grasps that he has a division to keep in line. In addition, Israel Adesanya underlined that the takedown defense he lacked in his light heavyweight debut won’t be the case at his natural weight class. The middleweight star won’t rule out moving up in the future. Even though Adesanya stumbled against the seasoned Polish champion doesn’t mean we won’t see him competing at light heavyweight again.
“You’ll definitely see me at 205 later in the future. Adesanya said. But right now, I got a division I gotta dominate. And I know they’re gonna be thinking ‘Oh, that’s it. You just gotta take him down! And that’s it! You got him! All right, cool, bet. But I’ll remind them again why I’m the king of 185.”
Understandably, Israel Adesanya realizes the tasks in front of him. With his former rival, Marvin Vettori on the rise and Robert Whittaker making waves, the cupboard certainly isn’t bare in terms of intriguing matchups. At just 31-years of age, there is little doubt fans will see “The Last Stylebender” inevitably move up again, maybe now just wasn’t the right time.
Who would you like to see Israel Adesanya fight in his next middleweight title defense? Let us know below what you think!