It wasn’t what Israel
Adesanya envisioned as he prepared to regain momentum in his
Ultimate Fighting Championship career.
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The former middleweight champion suffered his third consecutive
defeat in the UFC
Saudi Arabia headliner, falling to Nassourdine
Imavov via second-round technical knockout on Saturday at ANB
Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. While “The Last Stylebender”
appeared poised to return to form against a rising contender, it
wasn’t meant to be.
“Disappointed,” Adesanya said on the ESPN post-fight show. “I hate
disappointing my fans and my team. My team’s still proud of me for
the work that I put into this. It’s just the thrill and agony.”
According to Adesanya, only those entrenched in the sport will
truly understand what it means to be on wrong side of such a
defeat. Those who haven’t competed will only be left to
speculate.
“I don’t think it’s for them to know. You have to really be in it
to know,” Adesanya said. “It’s only a privilege only few will ever
get to this point and understand. To be able to feel something so
great, but also feel something so deep and so – ugh. Again, it’s a
f—king lovely game, but it’s a stupid game at the same time.”
For a round, things were going well for Adesanya, as he controlled
the range and relied on his usual arsenal of strikes to keep Imavov
at bay. That changed early in the second stanza, when Imavov found
his opening to land a fight-altering right hand. The Frenchman
unloaded with a barrage of punches from there to force a stoppage
just 30 seconds into the period. It’s the fourth straight win for
Imavov, who used the signature triumph to campaign for a 185-pound
title shot.
“He must be excited to beat a guy like me,” Adesanya said. “But
again, I felt good. Round 1, I was in control of everything. In
hindsight, maybe I should have taken some time. I just didn’t want
him to rest because I knew he was tired. I didn’t want him to rest.
But again, [hindsight is] 20/20.”
Adesanya competed in his 14th UFC main event on Saturday, and the
vast majority of those outings have been title bouts. While he no
longer resides at the top of the division he once ruled, he remains
one of the promotion’s biggest names. However, the Nigerian-born
Kiwi is currently uncertain what the future might hold for him.
“I don’t know,” Adesanya said. “I have to chill and then think
about things. I’ll relax for a little bit, just help the teammates
who have fights coming up and see what I want to do. I was going to
do that anyway but now I’m forced to. Shout out to Nassourdine for
that.”