UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya has promised that he will return to the 185-pound division after he fights Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259.
Adesanya is gearing up to meet Blachowicz in the main event this Saturday night with the winner walking away with the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Adesanya is feeling pretty confident that he’s going to get the job done but if he does, it raises questions about his future at middleweight.
Rest assured, though, Adesanya isn’t planning on going anywhere.
“I’ll definitely go back down to 185,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie. “I have something else in my head that might interest (me after). But definitely going back down to 185 is my goal. I want to keep my division moving.”
While Adesanya may be looking to the future, his head coach Eugene Bareman doesn’t want to look past the challenge that lies ahead in Vegas this weekend.
“This is Israel’s hardest fight by quite a bit,” Bareman told Submission Radio. “I think this is a jump up from any of his previous challengers. And for all intents and purposes within our camp, we are building ourselves as the underdogs. And we’re doing that based on we’re giving away this size and weight advantage that we sometimes have in our favor. Now we’re gonna give it away. So, it’s just a very hard (fight).
“What we’re about to attempt here is, people don’t understand, a very, very difficult endeavor and a very risky one, and one that makes for all us coaches and Israel, it makes the hairs on the back of our necks stand up. Because this is a true, true challenge – a hefty challenge. And it’s a scary one, and it’s one that gets you up early in the morning and wanting to attack it. And we’ve had a great camp because it’s just a highly motivating fight. And it’s a highly motivating fight because it’s such a dangerous fight.”
Is this Israel Adesanya’s toughest test yet in mixed martial arts? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!