Israel Adesanya is looking to return to the Octagon following an extremely devastating three fight losing skid.
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya hasn’t fought since February when he was shockingly knocked out by rising contender Nassourdine Imavov.
His loss to Imavov marked his third loss in a row, the first time he has suffered this fate throughout his extremely impressive career.
And now at 36 years old, fans have questioned whether ‘The Last Stylebender’ will ever step foot back in the Octagon having already achieved everything there is to achieve in the sport.
Adesanya talks potential return against rival he once dominated
Despite being on a three fight losing skid, Adesanya has continued to show moments of promise, and he even came close to reclaiming the title when he fought Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305.
And although Adesanya knows he likely won’t get back into the title picture, he has highlighted a potential fight against his former rival that he once dominated when he was the champion.
When Adesanya was reigning as the 185lb champion, he ran through the majority of the division, and one of the fighters he beat during his streak was Paulo Costa.
Costa self-admittedly ruined the biggest fight of his career, revealing that he drank a bottle of wine before the fight, which led to him being knocked out.
After his loss to Imavov, Adesanya took a considerable amount of time off of training and finally returned to the mats this past April when he sparred Kamaru Usman.
“I sparred with Kamaru in Miami when (Alexander Volkanovski) got his belt back. And that was my first sparring back. I took some time out to just, you know, chill and let the brain relax. And yeah, I just knew straight away. So I’ve been itchy for a while bro, I’m ready to go,” Adesanya told the Sun Sport.
“I don’t have to say much. I’d be like, ‘Cool, alright, that sounds fun’ and give him a chance at redemption like people have done for me as well. And Strickland, if he wants to fight, sure, if not, it’s alright,” Adesanya said regarding a fight against Costa.
Paulo Costa recently picked up an impressive win
‘The Eraser’ hasn’t been the most active fighter either, but he returned to the Octagon recently at UFC 318 when he scored an impressive win against Roman Kopylov.
Following his win Adesanya offered Costa some rare praise after he finally returned to winning ways, putting their rivalry aside for a moment.