There’s no clear timeline for when we might see Israel Adesanya back in the cage, but according to “The Last Stylebender,” the urge to fight is growing once again.
Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland after a listless performance in Sydney, Australia. Instead of calling for an immediate rematch, Izzy decided it was time to take a break and recharge his batteries. He’d fought five times in 19 months, which is a lot for any UFC fighter let alone a champion.
The time off has already done wonders for “The Last Stylebender,” who sounded excited for his eventual comeback in an interview with boxing legend Teddy Atlas.
“Even in the gym before, we were training and … I can’t help it, I started shadowboxing,” Adesanya said. “I’m looking in the mirror and I caught myself, cuz I don’t realize I’m in it. Then I start looking in my eyes and I can see my jaw clench, and I’m like ‘F—, I missed the beast!’ Even just talking to you now, I’m almost perspiring. Not just the heat condition in here, but I’m getting excited about the fight.”
“I said I was taking a break, right? When I said that, people were responding to me as if I was — it’s like, I’m not dying. I’m still here, I’m not retiring. I’m here. I’m just taking a little break. Cuz look: four fights in the last fourteen months as champion. Active. And also, I have some things I need to fix, so I’m like let me just take a break. Me and [Alexander Volkanovski], we’re the two most active champions in UFC history.”
“As I was looking in the mirror, it’s crazy, that’s why I love the mirror,” he continued. “It’s a magical portal, man. I could see, ‘I missed the beast!’ and I kept on saying that. F—. I know it’s there. But I’m like no, we got to just chill, put it in the stable for now. Just work, and I’ll help my teammates when I get back home and whatnot.”
“It’ll get to the point when I come back,” he concluded. “I can’t wait to unleash it again. But in the meantime? Patience … It reassured me, I was like ‘Oh yeah, you’re far from done.’ Just looking in my eyes, I can see that killer.”
The middleweight landscape may be very different by the time Adesanya returns. Current champ Sean Strickland faces Dricus Du Plessis on January 19th at UFC 297. Khamzat Chimaev is waiting hungrily in the wings. And many of Izzy’s past opponents are hoping to jockey back into title contention while their nemesis is away. Here’s hoping he unleashes the beast back on the 185 pound division sometime in 2024.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
