He may have traded in right hooks and leg kicks for DJ sets last year, but Israel Adesanya insists he is excited to continue his career in the UFC, dispelling suggestions he is in his final chapter as a professional mixed martial artist.
Adesanya will return from a 13-month UFC absence in Seattle this weekend. The Nigerian-born New Zealander will face Joe Pifer in the middleweight main event at Climate Pledge Arena.
This will be Adesanya’s second straight appearance on fight night after a string of 14 pay-per-view appearances, 12 of which were semi-tournament appearances. Despite stepping down from the action, the former middleweight champion insists he remains as motivated to perform as ever.
“Not really, no, I actually prefer it,” Adesanya told ESPN this week when asked if he finds it difficult to get energy away from the pay-per-view spotlight. “Yes, I like big lights, but the lights are still bright in here.
“Just because it’s fight night, I mean (it’s still the same job), the Paramount deal has just been signed, so that means (New Zealand rights holders) TVNZ will finally be able to watch these shows for free, not just on Sky (pay-per-view), so more eyes are on me now at home.
“So, yeah, I’m very happy with that. And I love the fast-paced fight week, and then on fight night, the lights stay the same.”
UFC fans who don’t follow Adesanya on social media, nor interact with his popular YouTube channel, FreeStylbender, are probably wondering what the 36-year-old has been doing in his year-long absence from the octagon.
He’s been a constant presence at City Kickboxing in Oakland, helping prepare his teammates for fights of their own, including Carlos Uhlberg, who will chase a second UFC belt in the gym against Jiri Prochazka for the light heavyweight title at UFC 237 on April 11. Adesanya also took time to pursue other interests.
“Just doing the things that I love outside of fighting, and just focusing on myself,” Adesanya told ESPN. “I started a festival, I became a DJ for a little while, and yeah, I’m back in business now… A lot happens in a year, and it was nice to, you know, express myself in more ways than fighting.
“I released the song Afro Soul, which I played at my own festival – headlined by Burner Boy – and we’re doing another festival this year around the same time, so it was good for me to show that I’m more than just a fighter.”
Is the competition strong, to do the same work that saw him become the second most dominant middleweight of all time, and still be around?
“I don’t know if this is the last chapter of my career. It’s at the end of my career, but certainly not the last chapter of my career. It’s easy to have those thoughts (of retirement), but not me.”
“I can just let it go and do what I feel like. Like that DJ thing — I could really take it for what it is. But no, I just have these skills and these tendencies that I have to express through controlled violence.”
Despite his unwavering confidence, there’s no hiding the fact that Adesanya is in a triple bind. After regaining the middleweight belt from Alex Pereira, Adesanya has since suffered defeats to Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis and Nasreddin Imavov.
Adesanya dismissed suggestions that he may have lost focus or simply not done his best to stay at the top of the division, instead pointing to his long career in combat sports as the reason he has not been at his best.
“There are always levels, you can always get better at anything in life,” he told ESPN. “I had to take a step back and let my body relax, let my mind relax, because again I was very active, which a lot of people in my situation wouldn’t do.”
“So, yeah, just let the body rest, let the mind rest and recover. After doing that, we built the body back up, bulletproofed it, and now I can express it soon.”
In a sign of how Adesanya has been sliding down the middleweight mantle in the UFC, Pyfer is the lowest-ranked opponent the New Zealander has faced since he fought Marvin Vettori (then unranked) in 2018.
“A very strong and dangerous competitor, but I’m looking forward to keeping him at bay,” Adesanya said of Fire. “As I said, I have these tendencies, and I want to express them through controlled violence, and he is the recipient of them this time.”
Another defeat this weekend will only raise more questions about Adesanya’s future. Conversely, a win could open an unlikely path back to a third UFC title.
For now, Adesanya doesn’t dare look beyond Pyfer.
“I just want to give a good performance, because when I perform, I show up,” he said. “So, yeah, I’m going to go out there and show off like I usually do, like I do when I’m free.
“I miss the feeling of winning. I don’t need it, but I want it, and I’ll get what I want.”
