PERTH, Australia – Israel Adesanya is “happy” with his efforts in the UFC 305 main event against Dricus Du Plessis, even if he didn’t walk away the winner.
Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) returned from a career-long 11-month layoff on Saturday and saw his ambitions of becoming a three-time middleweight champion squashed by Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in the form of a fourth-round submission loss at RAC Arena.
When Adesanya took his gloves off in the octagon after the fight, there was rapid speculation he was retiring. He quickly shut down that notion quickly, and has made it clear he still thinks there’s more fight left in him.
He entered the event with full confidence he’d come out the winner, but Du Plessis proved otherwise. That puts the 35-year-old former champion in a tricky position, but Adesanya remains optimistic that while he couldn’t get the win, there is still aspirations for future success in his decorated career.
“It just takes a little work internally to let go of the result,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie at the UFC 305 post-fight news conference. “Last time, I lost my fight in the worst fashion (against Sean Strickland). This is my first time being submitted. … That last one was just something I wasn’t happy with. This one, I’m happy with the way I performed, just not happy with the result. But I wasn’t holding onto the result. I was just worried about displaying the work we’ve done. I felt like I did that.”
MMA is a never-ending journey of growth and evolution. Adesanya is embracing that philosophy, and knows that, even at 35 and with more than 110 combat sports bout, he can still improve.
Adesanya said pre-fight that he intends to compete less frequently going forward than the breakneck rate of competition that defined the majority of his career. He doesn’t know when or against whom he will fight next, but whenever he returns, he hopes it will be appreciated.
“You’ll see me again when you see me again,” Adesanya said. “I’m not like, ‘I need to fight for the belt again’ – none of that. I’m just doing me. I just want to keep getting better. I want to get better at my grappling. I can grapple, as you can see. … You guys don’t know my (full) skill set, but I’m going to get better. Even my striking, I’m going to get better at that again. So when you see, me you’ll see me. It’s not going to be like you’ll see me in three months like you normally do. You’ll see me when you see me again, so enjoy me while I’m here, because you’ll miss me when I’m gone.”
In the meantime, Adesanya said he intends to “reset” with a small layoff that will include spending time with his team and family, traveling to Nigeria and South Africa, then areturn to training in anticipation of whatever may be next.
“We’ve already got some (BBQ) set aside and I’m going to sit with the team and enjoy that and we’ll be at the afterparty,” Adesanya said. “Might sink some piss tonight to take the pain away. I’ll go to Nigeria and chop some Suya, touch ground with my people, reset myself, and when I’m back in New Zealand, I’m back in the gym, back on the plan – the offseason plan to keep working, because I’m not f*cking leaving. I feel amazing. I’m not losing this body. I’m not losing these gains. I feel amazing.
“You’ll see me at middleweight, and whoever I fight here – I don’t even know who I’m going to fight next. I haven’t really thought that far. But we’ll see.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.
