“I’ve done it my whole UFC career. Everyone was trying to take me down at some point. I stuff the takedown, put their head. Boom! Put my b— on the back of their heads, sprawl flat out, and then I get back up and f–k ‘em up!” — that’s what Israel Adesanya told The Mac Life’s Oscar Willis in 2019. It was right after that hellish war with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236, where he became the interim champ. He didn’t say it outright, but it kinda felt like he quoted what ‘The Notorious’ said to Chad Mendes before UFC 189.

Adesanya was a top-tier kickboxer before making the switch to MMA, right after that brutal left-hook KO loss to Alex Pereira at Glory of Heroes 7. His striking was already razor-sharp and from the jump, he started piecing up contenders just to show he was built different from most middleweights at that time. MMA, though, is a whole different beast compared to kickboxing, it’s way more layered and way more unpredictable. So, to keep up, ‘The Last Stylebender’ made sure to level up his game, especially his takedown defense, which is currently sitting at a healthy 77%.

For example, Adesanya’s fight against Derek Brunson at UFC 230. He showed off that insane takedown defense, slipping through all those grappling attempts and landing some perfectly timed knees to get the win. But it’s not just that fight. He shined in both of his rematches, defending 10 out of Marvin Vettori’s 14 attempts at UFC 263, or stopping 6 out of 10 against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271.’The Last Stylebender’ has proven time and time again that he’s tough to keep down on the mat, just like a solid piece of wood that just won’t budge. But now? He’s ready to mix things up and add some grappling to his game, just for fun.

Adesanya on the Pound 4 Pound Podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo said, “I can’t wait! Cause in my last fight I was doing well, but I can’t wait till I fight again just cause there’s some things I wanna try. Just for the love, just for the fun. Because people have never seen me even. Have I ever shot for a takedown? I hit a lateral drop kind of once. I took him down yeah! He initiated it, and I was like, countered him. Boom! Yeah! Certain things I wanna try. Just to say I’ve done it in the cage.”

Is the former two-time middleweight champion attempting takedowns? That’s bound to be a spectacle for fans. According to his UFC profile, the Nigerian native has only attempted 9 takedowns, giving him a crazy low takedown accuracy of just 11%. But after all these years, Adesanya’s at least considering improving that part of his game. That’s a pretty positive sign. Now, the big question is, will he go to Dagestan for two to three years? Or he could team up with none other than the heavyweight champion of the world, Jon Jones, someone Adesanya’s already said he’d like to train with.

Jon Jones responds to Israel Adesanya’s training request

Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya didn’t exactly hit it off at first. Their relationship was more about rivalry and trash talk. But after ‘Bones’ made the move from light heavyweight to heavyweight, things started to shift. They’ve been building some kind of respect for each other. Recently, Adesanya even said that training with the GOAT would be an awesome thing to do. That’s a pretty big deal, and it could help Adesanya level up, especially with his grappling. It’ll be interesting to see where this respect goes.

Adesanya on the Pound 4 Pound podcast said, “It’s on the list. With Jon, bro, I know I can learn a lot. A long guy, his frame. I’ve watched him since UFC 92. The way he moves, I can pick his brain on some stuff. Definitely, it’ll happen but time.” According to the Full Mount MMA YouTube channel, Jon Jones replied on Instagram, “Man that would be awesome.”

With Jon Jones on board, Adesanya could level up his grappling and wrestling by picking his brain. Training with the GOAT would help Izzy add more layers to his game, especially in controlling opponents on the ground. To develop further, Adesanya could focus on refining his top control, ground-and-pound, and improving his transitions. Sparring with top-level grapplers would also be crucial to complete his skill set. What are your thoughts?