Aljamain Sterling: Israel Adesanya's reflexes, reaction time not same

Aljamain Sterling has seen in change in Israel Adesanya 's defensive instincts. Adesanya (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) was finished by Joe Pyfer in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 271 headliner this past Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Adesanya won Round 1 on all three judges' scorecards before he was dragged into a back-and-forth battle on the feet, which lead to him being stopped by strikes on the ground.

"Izzy, he's just always winning these fights and then somehow, he just ends up not," Sterling said on his YouTube channel . "He can still compete. There's definitely a couple of things about Izzy that I think has changed.

One of those, I think, is the main thing that sticks out to me is the reflexes. I just don't think his reaction time is quite the same as it used to be – as sharp. I don't want to take anything away from Joe Pyfer.

I thought he fought well. He had a rough start, was able to draw Izzy into fighting his style of fight, and once he did that, he was able to get his hands on him to take him down and put on the finishing touches to get him out of there. "I mean, he's the bigger, stronger guy.