UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has left the door open for an eventual move up to heavyweight.
Adesanya, 33, has never fought at heavyweight in MMA and is set to make the sixth defence of his 185lb title against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in November. 'The Last Stylebender' did move up to light-heavyweight to challenge then-champion Jan Blachowicz last year, but came up short as he suffered his first and only UFC loss.
The Nigeria-born New Zealander has competed at heavyweight before in kickboxing, winning a King in the Ring tournament seven years ago in his home country. Adesanya's manager, Tim Simpson, revealed he wants to move back to light-heavyweight and could even make his heavyweight debut in the UFC after clearing out the 185lb division.
“He’s mentioned he wants to go back up to 205,” Simpson told MMA Junkie of his client. “Obviously, the last time he came up short, but I think he would be very comfortable in that division again if that’s what he wants to do. It’s really up to him and Eugene [Bareman, Adesanya's trainer] on the athletic side. I think he has business he wants to attend to at 185lb, he says he wants to fight everybody of his era in that weight class, which he almost has done.
“He wants to go down as the greatest of all time in that division, and there’s opportunity to stay there and keep fighting. But the door’s open to light-heavyweight, even heavyweight. He’s had success at heavyweight in kickboxing, too.”
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While Adesanya is one of the highest-paid fighters in the UFC, he has received criticism for his past title defences being "boring". However, Simpson heaped praise on Adesanya's stardom and said the 185lb champion has been forced to turn down Hollywood offers because of his fight schedule.
“He’s transcended MMA,” Simpson added of Adesanya. “He’s done that a few years ago but a huge amount of opportunities commercially. He’s working with major blue-chip sponsors and partners for a long time. There’s been some opportunities in Hollywood that we’ve had to turn down based on schedule.
“He’s the most sought-after guy outside of Conor [McGregor] and is leading the charge in this sport for notoriety and star power. It’s a credit to him and his personality and everything he’s built. He turns everything he does to gold.”
