Israel Adesanya has benefitted from a much-needed recharge since his upset loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 last September.
“I’ve definitely evolved,” Adesanya told TMZ Sports. “And just taking my time to heal myself: mind, body and spirit. Patience has been my friend throughout this whole thing. I’m a very patient man, so I’m just able to sit, watch and plot.”
When Adesanya relinquished the middleweight strap to Strickland, it ranked as one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history. Shortly thereafter, he revealed that he wouldn’t be fighting for “a long time.” In addition to mental healing, Adesanya revealed that he has been focused on eating healthier and getting the proper amount of sleep.
“Now I’m living like a proper athlete and it’s nice,” he said.
UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
Adesanya will return for the first time since that loss when he challenges Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title in the UFC 305 main event on Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The bout has plenty of heat behind it due to Du Plessis’ controversial statement regarding his status as “the African fighter in the UFC.”
“It’s not personal. I just want him to take accountability for his remarks,” Adesanya said. “… I’m also glad my friend [Abdul Razak Alhassan] said it before his fight: ‘I respect Dricuss but he’s a bitch for what he said.’ Dricus was saying, ‘I train in Africa, I do this in Africa.’ People like myself and [Alhassan] are forced to flee our own country because of better opportunity.
“He’ll never understand that because he lives behind the f—ing gates of his privileged life in South Africa and he’s able to do that there. It’s not like Francis [Ngannou] who had to cross the desert to go overseas to go train. You can’t call him not a ‘real African champion’ because he didn’t train in Africa ….
“Even without Francis being champion, without myself being champion, without Kamaru [Usman] being champion — he would have never been champion. We paved the way for him. He comes out there and tries to take it all for himself. I wonder where he got that from. What kind of mindset is that? …. You could have said it’s a great honor to be out of the legends of African champoins that have been in the UFC. He tries to take it all for himself. That’s a colonist mindset. He doesn’t understand the error of his ways, but I will show him the way.”
It’s clear that Adesanya has plenty of motivation to regain the title, and he is confident that he has plenty left in the tank — even at 35 years old.
“This is not a one time deal. I’m not done,” he said. “I know I can prolong myself in this game and actually close this chapter in my life in a big way. Finish strong. These next couple years I’m going to enjoy and really soak everything in.”
