Israel Adesanya might return to the MMA cage sooner than expected. The former champ confirmed it himself after making fun of critics who believe his earlier words about coming back after a could of years.
“The Last Stylebender” announced his plan to take a break from his MMA career after experiencing a terrible loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. As the fighter shared, this should help him heal from the injuries he received from his last bout. The New Zealander, however, only said that the break would be “long,” leaving fans clueless on his return.
“Now I’m going to take time to look after myself, and I’m not going to fight for a long time,” Adesanya said last month. “I’m definitely not going to retire because I know me — I’m not leaving like that. I know me. But if I did, I’m fine. I don’t need to prove anything else. But I know what I can do and what I can change in my lifestyle to make my body adapt to where I need to be. I’m going to heal myself up. You won’t see me fight for a long time.”
After this, many fellow fighters, including Alex Pereira, who talked about Adesanya’s decision on different occasions, predicting that the fellow fighter would be back sooner than anyone expected. “Poatan” also made several callouts to the rival after this and even made some remarks to push the New Zealander out of his break. That seems unnecessary, nonetheless, as Adesanya himself hinted that he would make an early return, in contrast to his earlier “long” break statement.
During an interview with IFL TV, Adesanya suggested that certain individuals were gullible for believing he would return in 2027. According to the fighter, fans could see him “soon.”
“I’m taking my time,” said Adesanya. “My last few fights, I had four fights in 14 months as a champion in the UFC, that’s unheard of,” Adesanya said. “Life has forced me to take some time off, and I will, but you will see me soon.
“I said 2027, and the r*****s out there thought I actually meant that. But, you’ll see.”
There is still no certainty on who Adesanya would face if he really returns to UFC. Many still expect it to be Pereira due to his repeated callouts, but the light heavyweight champ recently suggested that he would stop it, saying he had already given the rival the chance. Yet, as some still firmly believe, the fight between the two is the perfect headliner of UFC 300.