Israel Adesanya doesn’t appear more likely to retire, but most fans want him to reconsider.
13 months after Adesanya was knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov in Saudi Arabia, the previous middleweight champion returned within the predominant event of UFC Seattle.
As a substitute of bouncing back and recording his first win since 2023, Adesanya was stopped by Joe Pyfer on Saturday night. His energetic losing skid now stands at 4 straight fights.
Despite that difficult streak, ‘The Last Stylebender’ will not be planning to hold up his gloves. But do the fans agree with that decision?
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Fans keep off on Israel Adesanya’s plan to maintain fighting
Bloody Elbow readers have been engaging in a TalkingPoints discussion about Adesanya’s latest loss at UFC Seattle, prompted by the instruction, “What now? Who should Israel Adesanya fight next?”
Numerous fans responded, and plenty of are firmly against the legendary former two-time champion’s plan to proceed on contained in the Octagon.
Some responses got here from users on the TalkingPoints platform.
“Undecided, but he shouldn’t be a gatekeeper,” basztoronald2424 wrote.
“Retire,” mike12yankees commented.
“I don’t find his fights interesting anymore. He says he’s not retiring but I don’t want to look at him fight anymore. The fight against Joe Pyfer was BORING. NO THANKS, IZZY! IT’S TIME TO GIVE IT UP!” billjemanuel said.
“He’s not the fighter he was, because getting older takes that spark away from you. To find a way to be a top contender past age 35 will make you an early retirement with Parkinson’s at age 45,” cfisherus wrote.
Others gave their responses via the Bloody Elbow social media channels, where fans gave the impression to be more split on Adesanya’s future.
“Retire. Take up golf when you still have most of your faculties.”
“Turning into modern-day BJ Penn.”
“Izzy can take his place now fighting the up-and-comers. He’s still an excellent fighter, just past his best years.”
“After beating ‘Poatan’, he lost his hunger.”
“Keep fighting.”
“Age is catching as much as him fast. He can’t handle damage like he used to.”
“RETIRE.”
“Go fight in BKFC or MVP.”
“Retire or fight other old guys past their prime.”
“Let him beat up the one-eyed Russian dude (Shara Magomedov).”
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What do the Bloody Elbow staff think needs to be next for Israel Adesanya?
The Bloody Elbow staff also gave their takes on Adesanya’s future after his losing skid was prolonged by the middleweight division’s No. 14-ranked contender at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena.
Also they are split between wanting to see ‘The Last Stylebender’ retire or given one other opportunity to snap his dismal run of defeats.
Jordan Ellis: “Yousri Belgaroui. Book it!”
Jamie Theodosi: “He MUST retire. He made a comparison to Anderson Silva during fight week and the way nobody remembers Anderson’s final run within the UFC, but they do. And so they’ll remember his if he keeps going.”
Kyle Dimond: “His style makes it hard to consider fun fights for him. No matter who he faces, I’d wish to see Izzy fight a 3 rounder next if he’s certain he desires to proceed. Put him on a giant numbered card.”
Harvey Leonard: “Think I’m at the purpose now where I actually have no desire to see him fight again. But when he does, hopefully they offer him a grappler who won’t KO him.”