Israel Adesanya has confirmed a recent claim from his coach that he intends to return to the Octagon, and has revealed that he’s specifically looking for a rematch with Sean Strickland.
Adesanya lost the middleweight title to Strickland in a shocking upset back in September of 2023. That marked the start of a three-fight losing streak, having also gone on to be submitted by Dricus du Plessis in another title fight last year, followed by a TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov earlier this year.
Following that it was unclear whether Adesanya would fight again, but though he admits he didn’t have the motivation to do so, he’s since rediscovered his competitive drive.
“I didn’t spar after my last fight,” Adesanya admits on his YouTube channel. “I did so well in the fight, I did so well in the camp, and I didn’t get the result that I wanted, but I was still proud of myself. I’m still proud of the way I worked. So then I didn’t spar because I just looked after my brain. Then, when I was in Miami recently watching [Volkanovski] get his belt back, then I sparred with Kamaru Usman for the first time in months. And I knew once I sparred it would be like, ‘Man, I’ve gotta fight!’
“So for me now, I told my coach already, it’s time. I just knew. And I have a feeling who I want to fight. You’ll like this one: I’ve gotta get some get back.
“Strickland. I’m going to get it back.”
Adesanya goes on to acknowledge that Strickland deserved his victory in their first clash, but intends to give a better account of himself next time.
“He beat me fair and square in Sydney,” Adesanya said. “5 – Nil. Just whooped my ass, badly. Again, that was one of the things that made me realize I need to slow down in my activity. I was fighting 3-4 times a year as champion. So I want to pull back now, because I’m older, I’m doing things different.
“I don’t want to make excuses, because he beat me, but I just want to show him if he beat me at my best. So this time I’m going to come at him correct.
“Everything is done since then. Because I used to get bullied a lot as a kid. So he’s an embodiment of that, in a sense, because he attacked me, the inner child. So i just want to protect him and get some get back for him.”
Like Adesanya, Strickland hasn’t had the best of times in the Octagon since they fought, as just a few months later he lost the belt to Dricus du Plessis, and while he did go on to beat Paulo Costa by split-decision after that, he’s since suffered a more convincing decision loss in a rematch with du Plessis back in February.
The No.2 ranked Strickland doesn’t currently have a fight booked, and given that it still feels like there’s unfinished business between them, a rematch with the No.4 placed Adesanya feels like it has a good chance of being greenlit.
