This Saturday in the UFC Saudi Arabia main event, Israel Adesanya looked to rebound from back-to-back losses as he took on Nassourdine Imavov.
Following his UFC 305 title loss to Dricus Du Plessis last year, Israel Adesanya was booked to fight soaring middleweight contender, Nassourdine Imavov, who was looking to put his name in the title picture.
After sharing a concerning cryptic message just hours before his official weigh-in, the former middleweight champion weighed in at championship weight, putting the fans’ fears to bed and making his UFC Saudi Arabia main event official.
Unfortunately for the Nigerian, though, he was handed only his second knockout loss during his MMA career as Imavov scored the shocking finish in round two.
Israel Adesanya gives honest answer regarding potential retirement
‘The Last Stylebender’ is now in an extremely unfortunate position in his career at 35 years old and suffering three defeats in a row.
Because of that, he has been told by UFC legend, Michael Bisping that he is reaching ‘the beginning of the end’ of his incredible career.
And with that, the former UFC middleweight champion has also been implored by fans to retire following a legendary career inside the Octagon.
Immediately following his devastating loss, Adesanya stood in the center of the Octagon and bowed to all sides of the arena, potentially hinting at retirement.
Just a few moments later, the 35-year-old was asked to give his initial emotions and thoughts after suffering another knockout loss.
“The thrill and agony. Disappointing, yeah. Disappointing my fans, my team, my team feel proud of me because of the work I put into this but, yeah, it’s just the thrill and agony,” he told ESPN MMA.
Amid retirement calls, Adesanya provided an answer when asked whether this will be the last time fans see him step foot inside the UFC cage.
“Only a privileged few will get to this point and understand, to be able to feel something so great but also feel something so deep, it’s a lovely game but it’s a f*cking stupid game at the same time.
“I don’t know (what’s next), I have to chill and then think about things. I’ll relax first for a little bit just help the teammates that have fights coming up and, yeah, see what I wanna do. I was gonna do that anyway but now I’m forced to, shout out to Nassourdine for that,” Adesanya emotionally answered.
Adesanya suffered brutal weight-cut ahead of UFC Saudi Arabia
With this being Adesanya’s first non-title fight in over six years, he was able to come in 1lb heavier than usual at 186lbs but still opted to weigh in at championship weight, showcasing his dedication to the sport.
Although he didn’t touch on it after the fight or use it as an excuse for his loss, the former champion suffered an extremely brutal weight cut which reduced him to tears.
With the 35-year-old’s weight cuts getting no easier and there not being much of a path for him to move up to light heavyweight, he will take a considerable amount of time out while he weighs up his next move and decides whether to hang up the gloves.