Israel Adesanya just wants to have fun now but another UFC legend has different ideas about his future. After ‘Izzy’ lost to Sean Strickland in a humiliating turn of events, he decided to lay low for some time. He was hurt and wanted to process things a bit better. Now that he has prevailed and overcome the initial shock, he has openly talked about the loss as well as what he plans to do next.

However, Chael Sonnen has recently made some exciting predictions about Adesanya’s next move. While fans seem convinced that he might be gunning for a rematch against Strickland, the veteran thinks ‘Izzy’ might just move to an entirely different division. And out of the two, Sonnen’s take is certainly an exciting one.

Israel Adesanya might move up divisions to keep things fun

Israel Adesanya opened up about the loss and his future plans on his YouTube channel. There, he mentioned that now he just wants to have a fight for fun. Sonnen suspects that as long as it’s just for fun, it may not be a title fight. It might be something different.

“When he says for fun,” Sonnen says. “Is he willing to leave the weight class? We’re just doing a fight that’s for fun. It’s not about contendership it’s not about proving anything, it’s not about a title and he would have used those words. If it’s just about for fun, can we change the weight class?”

Sonnen does make a good point. Being champion so many times might be a lucrative opportunity for Adesanya but that keeps the cycle going. The same top fighters will keep competing for the title while the others in the division won’t ever see a chance. Since ‘Izzy’ will become number 1, the fighters on the other end of the spectrum will only be pushed farther back. Sonne even goes as far as to believe it is ‘an outdated policy as it is.’

“. . . at 185 pounds we got four or five guys and the rest of them are having a really hard time breaking through so you got the same four or five guys,” explains Sonen, “but you have the same Champion, you get rematches, you get the lapping of a division. You could even have number three, it’s very tough well without Adesanya falling from Champion to number one, he’s still in that same group of five. Nobody new has emerged.”

So if Adesanya were to leave the division like Alex Pereira did, he would make space for other fighters. In the light heavyweight division, Adesanya could compete for fun and find himself a challenge too. It would be great for everyone in the division and we are here for it all the way!

The backdrop of ‘Izzy’ losing the belt

Adesanya lost the belt unexpectedly and the world went bananas. Suddenly fans and fighters were talking rematch rumors and nobody was happy about it. Dana White never confirmed a rematch and neither has ‘Izzy’.

Also Read: “The Belts Never Mattered”- Two-Time UFC Middleweight Champ Israel Adesanya Makes Startling Revelation After Teasing His Next Fight

The fighter only broke his silence a while after the match. In his video, he talked about his mistakes and how Strickland’s pressure kept him on his toes. He gave ‘Tarzan’ his due credit and admitted that he couldn’t “adjust on the fly”. Truly a champion even when defeated.

Now, the fighter looks forward to something exciting but we don’t know what just yet. Will he actually move weight classes? Looks like we’ll have to wait to find out.

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