Israel Adesanya is about to compete in his first non-title combat in six years.
Adesanya is a former two-time UFC middleweight champion, having defended the 185 lb strap a whopping seven occasions.
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He faces Nassourdine Imavov in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 1, 2025, following consecutive losses in title fights this 12 months.
Apparently, in addition to it being his first non-title combat in six years, the bout might be Adesanya’s first combat on a non-pay-per-view card since 2018.
Adesanya has competed in 14 successive UFC PPV playing cards over the previous six years.
However his combat with France’s ‘The Sniper’ Imavov is a part of a UFC Combat Evening card, and in addition options Shara Magomedov going through London’s Michael Web page within the co-main occasion.
“I nonetheless receives a commission,” Adesanya stated, when pressed on if it feels unusual to seek out himself on a Combat Evening card.
“There’s nonetheless a referee, it’s two of us in there, there’s a crowd.
“It’s not like within the f***ing Apex or one thing, so it doesn’t really feel any completely different.
“I feel individuals are making it out to be one thing how they might react to it, however they’re not in my sneakers. They’re not in my shorts. It’s completely different.”
Adesanya contended for two-division championship standing simply three years in the past after shifting as much as gentle heavyweight to combat Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259.
Though he misplaced the bout after 5 rounds by way of unanimous-decision, ‘The Final Stylebender’ put up a robust exhibiting, and proceeded to cement his title because the middleweight king in his following three bouts.
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Present gentle heavyweight champion Alex Pereira then arrived on the scene and disrupted the trail of the Nigerian-born New Zealander.
The 35-year-old dropped his middleweight belt for the primary time in November 2022 to Pereira in his seventh defence of the title.
He received the following rematch at UFC 287 by knocking the Brazilian out in spherical two, earlier than shockingly shedding the primary defence of his new reign to Sean Strickland.
Adesanya was then submitted at UFC 305 in August by Dricus Du Plessis, who beat Strickland for the belt and rematches him in Australia for UFC 312 subsequent 12 months.
“It’s a Saudi Arabia Combat Evening, to start with,” Adesanya added.
“I nonetheless receives a commission. It nonetheless feels such as you’re preventing Israel Adesanya. That is the largest combat of his life.
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“I’ve to be the one to halt that. It nonetheless feels the identical. It doesn’t really feel any completely different. Like I stated, individuals who do not do what I do – they’re those which might be [saying that] due to their ego.”
Adesanya’s first title combat in Dana White’s promotion came about 5 years in the past at UFC 236.
He battled Kelvin Gastelum for the interim middleweight belt in Atlanta, George, on the identical card Dustin Poirier beat Max Holloway for the second time.
That bout was Adesanya’s fourth on a UFC PPV card since making his debut in 2018 at UFC 221.
His subsequent, towards Imavov, might be his first combat on a non-PPV card since he took on Brad Tavarez at The Final Combat 27 Finale in July 2018.
Adesanya’s 2019 bout towards Robert Whittaker—which was his first-ever title combat—holds a particular place in UFC historical past.
The combat, which came about in Melbourne, Australia, recorded the highest-ever attendance at a UFC card thus far.
The pair battled it out in an all-Oceanic area title combat at UFC 243 in entrance of 57,127 followers as Adesnaya knocked out Whittaker in spherical two to unify the middleweight titles and turn out to be champion.