After almost a year out on the sidelines, former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is back and looks better than ever.
Ahead of his upcoming title fight against Dricus Du Plessis, ‘The Last Stylebender’ is looking in incredible shape and as the New Zealander prepares to hunt middleweight gold once again, could fans be about to witness a new 2.0 version of the former 185lb king?
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Israel Adesanya reveals major lifestyle changes ahead of UFC 305 title fight
Less than two weeks out from his long-awaited return to the cage, former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya joined New Zealand radio station The Rock for their ‘Morning Rumble’, to discuss his intense preparation for the upcoming title fight in Perth.
When asked what’s different about this ‘Stylebender’ compared to the one we last saw all the way back in September 2023, the iconic striker teased that a key part of fight camp has been about getting back to the basics.
“We’ve been working on some stuff, brought back some old things. Just basics, back to basics – you can never ever work on the basics enough, so we’re redefining the basics a lot and [for] this fight, I’m not going to promise anything but to bring my best, and I’m bringing my best in this fight.”
Whilst Adesanya hinted that he’s returning to the ‘Izzy of old’, that isn’t to say that the fan-favorite middleweight isn’t making some wholesale changes to his fight preparation.
On the contrary, ‘Stylebender’ has made some major improvements to his camp; one that starts with ditching fast food as he yearns for a healthier lifestyle and consequently, better longevity as he hunts the moniker of ‘Three-Time UFC Middleweight Champion’.
“I just turned 35 and I just know how my body is at this age, so this is the first camp where I’ve actually had a ‘pre-season’, I’ve had a de-load week even in this camp and all my meals are made [especially for me].
“I’ve been fuelled properly, not just Uber Eats every f***** meal because I was doing that and whooping a** so it was never really a problem, I was able to just be outside and go spar, and still be the champ so it wasn’t really a problem.”
Despite UFC 305 set to be his 12th title fight in the promotion, that’s across both middleweight and an short foray to light heavyweight, Adesanya revealed that this is the first time he’s felt like a ‘proper athlete’ in terms of his diet and lifestyle.
“This camp, I moved accordingly – probably for the first time I’ve lived like a proper athlete… Father time catches up to everyone so eventually you realize, ‘Look there are certain things that we have to adjust’ and that way I can really optimize and squeeze the juice out of this s*** before I let it go.
“I really want to make sure that by the time that I’m done with this, I’ve really maximized everything, and I know I did everything that I could.”
Adesanya reiterated that even as he was experiencing world title success after world title success at 185lbs, he’d still be rounding off his training routines with a bit of fast food; no more.
“I don’t want to be done and be like, ‘Man, what if I ate more cleanly’, it’s [all about the] little details… When I was whooping a** it didn’t bother me, I’ll go eat Burger King like it’s nothing… And those little differences make a big difference in the grand scheme of things.”
Interestingly, only a few hours later and Adesanya would also post a new fight camp VLOG to his YouTube channel, in which the City Kickboxing team was joined by submission specialist Demian Maia – another ‘little difference’ that could potentially pay dividends next weekend in Perth.
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Adesanya vs Du Plessis tops a fantastic card from Down Under
Whilst the main event title fight between South African champion Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya will undoubtedly dominate headlines both prior to UFC 305 and in its immediate aftermath, fans are in for a fantastic evening with a whole host of regional talent.
As per the UFC website, the full card for the Perth PPV reads.
- Dricus Du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya
- Kai Kara-France vs Steve Erceg
- Mateusz Gamrot vs Dan Hooker
- Tai Tuivasa vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Junior Tafa vs Valter Walker
- Jack Jenkins vs Herbert Burns
- Josh Culibao vs Ricardo Ramos
- Li Jingliang vs Carlos Prates
- Casey O’Neill vs Tereza Bleda
- Tom Nolan vs Alex Reyes
- Song Kenan vs Ricky Glenn
- Stewart Nicoll vs Jesus Aguilar
UFC 305 goes down from the RAC Arena in Perth on Saturday, August 17.