Israel Adesanya does not know how to back down and it is hard for anyone to diminish his fire. The Nigerian Kiwi fighter has been a former middleweight champion and he knows the glory of getting the throne. However, he also knows what it feels like to lose because now he’s on a two-fight losing skid with a 1-3 record in his last four fights.

But even then, his confidence is as high as ever. He recently had a press conference before UFC Fight Night 250 and the most iconic thing he said was, “Just because this does not involve a belt does not mean it’s not important.” Apart from that, he also gave many more iconic answers to the pressing questions from the media. When he was asked about Khamzat Chimaev’s latest performance against Robert Whittaker, he gave his clear praise for the Chechen warrior.

Izzy said, “Yeah, he’s really good when he fought Rob when he beat Rob. That one made me. Well, when he fought Gilbert Burns, I had to respect him. I was like he’s got that dog on him, he can fight, he can dig deep. And then he can still swing.” He also showed awareness of the fact that fighters need to “be careful” and watch out for Chimaev.

And guess what? ‘The Last Stylebender’ also revealed that he has always seen his move to light heavyweight as a side mission. In true ‘Izzy’ fashion, he gave a playful answer saying, “Middleweight is my weight class and it is kind of boring without me so. It’s time to get back in there and make it fun again.” While sipping his beverage, Adesanya dropped another bomb when asked about Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev. Israel Adesanya gave a straight-cut answer and selected ‘Poatan’ as the winner.

The Niegrain-born Kiwi was oozing confidence in this presser as he started the presser by saying that he was one of the ‘old dogs’ seeing newcomers climbing the ladder, and was going to send them back down. Indeed there is pressure on him but his cemented legacy gives him a backing going into this fight. Being a two-time middleweight champ, he had an ultimatum for the middleweight category.

Israel Adesanya warns the middleweight fighters.

Nassourdine Imavov has the chance to create his legacy with a chance to fight someone like Adesanya who already has an amazing record of 24-4-0. But Adesanya is a top dog who has got his hands dirty in MMA for years and is pretty confident about his power. He may have lost his middleweight title and missed the chance to reclaim it, but he is the only fighter in his division’s history to capture the 185-pound belt twice.

He already warned on his YouTube channel that no one should count him out of the game just because of a loss. He said, “Fighting him and beating him would be a way of just saying like, ‘Yeah, you can’t count me out. No matter what I can still take any of the top guys in this game at any time.”

However, critics are harsh, as usual, and claim that the 35-year-old’s career is slowly seeing a descent that might end in a crash landing. Yet, Izzy might be on the road to silence his doubters as he has a blueprint to defeat Nassourdine Imavov. While speaking to Ariel Helwani, Adesanya claimed, “I don’t need anything really from this game.” He added, “It’s just what I want to do, and I want to compete at the highest level because I still feel like I am the best. And I’ll prove that. Again, I’m quietly confident with my skills and the work I’ve put in for this fight so I can’t wait to just go in there and just do the work, and then people are going to be on my d**k again.”

But then again, people’s opinions do change and Adesanya is ready to prove them wrong. Are you excited for February 1st? Share your thoughts in the comments below.