For Israel Adesanya, UFC Seattle is about writing redemption story
Israel Adesanya wants everyone to leave UFC Seattle thinking: "How did I ever doubt him?"
Doubt Israel Adesanya at your own peril ahead of UFC Fight Night 271 . Former longtime UFC middleweight champion Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) returns to the octagon Saturday and looks to snap a three-fight losing skid in the headliner vs. Joe Pyfer (15-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC), which takes place at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle ( Paramount+ ).
With four defeats in his past five fights, Adesanya knows he is being positioned to potentially be a stepping-stone for Pyfer to jump to the top of the division. It's a situation that has been seen endless times in combat sports history, but Adesanya won't be wiped out just yet. "This is the classic tale of when they try to get the old guard and give him a young dog," Adesanya told reporters at Wednesday's UFC Fight Night 271 media day.
"For me, I've seen how this goes. This is just the cycle. Sometimes us older guys stop them in their tracks.
This fight for me, the story I'm telling myself, the story I'm going to write this weekend, is that after a year off, he comes back and just performs better than he ever has, or just like he did, and people are like, 'Ah, you're only as good as your last fight. ' "So when I'm done this weekend, I want people to be like, 'Oh, wow. F*ck.