Bad times seem to be following Israel Adesanya, as the former two-time middleweight champion has once again been defeated, this time at UFC Saudi Arabia. His clash against Nassourdine Imavov ended in a KO loss, with Adesanya being finished by the French fighter in the second round, further cementing Imavov’s status as a top contender for the middleweight title. With this loss, Adesanya might be closer to ending his career but what is the UFC CEO Dana White thinking about the loss of one of his biggest stars?

According to the UFC head honcho, Israel Adesanya was doing amazing in the first round but he got caught in the second round which resulted in his ultimate defeat.” Getting caught is getting caught,” said the UFC CEO. Well, is Dana White thinking about retiring Israel Adesanya after his third consecutive defeat? It’s quite the opposite as he believes that the former middleweight champ has more fight in him.

Retiring from the sport is in itself a big task for Israel Adesanya because he gave too much of his time to the UFC. Ahead of his fight at UFC Saudi Arabia, ‘StyleBender’ did give us a snippet about his retirement when he said, “You’ve got to break up with fighting before fighting breaks up with you.”

He further added, “When will I? I don’t know. I said at 20-something, ‘When I’m 34 I’m done with this game.’ I’m 35 now. But I know I’m over the halfway point and I’m definitely a few years away, maybe three years away. But who knows? I know I don’t want to be fighting at 40.” Well, the UFC head honcho believes that his starfighter has some fight left in his body but the fans might think otherwise.

Fans go against Dana White as they support Israel Adesanya’s retirement after UFC Saudi Arabia

Israel Adesanya never looked the same after his last fight, his initial bout against Alex Pereira, and the fans can feel this shift. The MMA community believes it would be better for the former champion to end his career on a high note, “Nah he’s cooked. He’s declined significantly and shouldn’t tarnish his legacy losing to guys worse than him.” 

The sad tale of Tony Ferguson might repeat at the middleweight division if Israel Adesany continues to fight according to some fans, “Next Tony Ferguson ?????” The former interim lightweight champion went on an eight-fight losing streak before being removed from the UFC. According to a fan, Israel Adesanya might retire after a victory under the UFC banner, “I was waiting for the interview, I thought he might retire, but surely he would like a bigger scenario to retire.”

Israel Adesanya’s story repeats Anderson Silva’s story as the former middleweight Goat also retired from the spot after losing consecutive three fights in a row, “Awful day to be an Izzy fan. He should not be Silva 2.0 and retire when he can.” According to a curious fan, ‘Stylebender’ is finished.“He’s done.”

Last but not least, a fan questions Israel Adesanya’s decision to not retire from the sport, “There is no point in not retiring”

It is quite certain that Israel Adesanya is out of the title race after his defeat at UFC Saudi Arabia but what will be his next step and what will be Dana White’s next challenge for him? State your thoughts in the comments below.