No. 8-ranked UFC middleweight fighter Brendan Allen has a message for Israel Adesanya, who’s now enjoying a long break from his MMA career. According to Allen, while taking a rest is “good” for the No. 1-ranked fighter in his division, its long-term effect could threaten his comeback.
To recall, the New Zealander decided to take a rest “for a long time” and recover physically after losing to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. Yet, some expressed frustration about the fighter’s decision, including Allen, who is currently trying to climb up the UFC ranking after his recent victory over Paul Craig at the UFC Fight Night 232.
“Good for him, but it’s never easy to come back after a long layoff,” Allen told ESPN. “Things just evolve so fast. The guys get better. The top changes with these guys that are evolving so fast and that are young and hungry.”
As “All In” stressed, an absence in the field for such a long time could change a fighter, making his return challenging in the future.
“He’s really going to have to come back a whole new guy, depending on how long he stays out,” Allen explained. “He’ll have to come back a whole new guy to even compete at the top. It’s just crazy how fast everything evolves and how good guys get in such short periods of time.”
Allen is not the first to protest about the decision of “The Last Stylender” to take a break from the cage. Prior to him, Alex Pereira also commented about the matter, saying Adesanya was “just confused.” According to “Poatan,” who’s hoping for a rematch, Adensanya would return “earlier than that and faster than everybody believes.”
