Israel Adesanya understands the fight game's cruelty better than most

One of the sadder sights on an otherwise brilliant night for the UFC on its visit to Seattle was of Niko Price trying to retire through the ceremony of Michael Chiesa’s own retirement. Price, who lasted just 63 seconds against Washington’s own Chiesa, could be seen cutting off the tape of his gloves, then laying them down in the center of the cage like an extra in a film, all while Daniel Cormier walked over the sacred act to talk to the man of the hour. If that weren’t enough, the UFC then showed a montage of Chiesa’s career, spanning his beginnings as a boxcar sensation on "The Ultimate Fighter" all the way to the present-day graybeard before us.

Price, a perennial B-side who had 21 fights in the UFC, obviously didn’t think the whole thing through. You don’t retire spontaneously when somebody advertises their last fight, as Chiesa did, on home soil. By the time the celebration of Chiesa’s career was over, only Price’s gloves remained.

It's the cruel nature of the game that some guys get trumpets on the way out, while some slink into the night without so much as a distant party horn. COULDN’T HAVE SCRIPTED IT BETTER FOR @MikeMav22 ! WHAT A WAY TO GO OUT 🙌 pic.

twitter. com/oyr1wS4lWC — Uncrowned (@uncrownedcombat) March 29, 2026 The bigger wonder on Saturday night was whether two-time UFC champion Israel Adesanya, now into his own midnight showings, would walk away from the game if he were to lose against a comer like Joe Pyfer. Adesanya is one of the more celebrated ex-champions going, still with plenty of magnetism and pluck, yet to see him in the lead role on a Fight Night felt like a reluctant return to the ordinary.