Kamaru Usman: Israel Adesanya 'still has it,' but needs to clear doubt

Kamaru Usman thinks Israel Adesanya 's battle is more mental than physical. Former middleweight champion Adesanya (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) dropped his fourth fight in a row when he was finished by Joe Pyfer in the UFC Fight Night 271 main event last month. Adesanya won Round 1 on all three judges' scorecards, but was eventually lured into trading blows with Pyfer, which resulted in him getting finished on the ground in Round 2.

Usman likes what he saw out of Adesanya, but can see some self-doubt. "I'm a fan of Israel's, and as a spectator, as well, I see it from that perspective," Usman said on his "Pound 4 Pound" podcast with Henry Cejudo. "But I also see it as a fighter who has been in a situation like this, and God, it's difficult, because he still has it.

You can see it. He can still twitch you and land and chop you up to where, I think, when you're in a situation like this, it's almost impossible not to doubt yourself. When you're on the way up, and you're young, and you're just, 'Next one, next one, next one,' you're consistently just going in there and doing it and being victorious.

You don't have time to doubt yourself. You have that chip on your shoulder. "But when you've been to the top, and now you're rolling back down, you start to doubt yourself while you're rolling back down.