The modern Middleweight superstar of the UFC, Israel Adesanya, stood crushed after his loss to Imavov, following which many believed ‘The Last Stylebender’ was considering leaving his gloves in the Octagon. After all, this was his third loss in a row, and a KO loss no less.

Even his coach Eugene Bareman was clueless about Izzy’s future, saying: “I don’t know. It’s just—yeah, if he was going to fight again, when he’s going to fight again. If he’s not, then… We’ve been blessed. I’ve been blessed. The world’s been blessed. The team’s been blessed. But it’s… yeah, it’s completely up to him.”

While many thought the former UFC Middleweight Champion, ‘Izzy’, would not be seen in the UFC octagon anymore, he has helped many of his fans finally take a breath of relief. Adesanya posted a story on his Instagram where we can see him exchanging strikes with a former UFC Welterweight Champion, Kamaru Usman. Adesanya posted the story and said: “Playing around”, letting both his fans and critics know that he is not done with this competition.

At the Kill Cliff FC, both Adesanya and Usman can be seen training together. Both the titans are on a three-fight losing streak and while both of them ruled their respective divisions in the UFC a few years ago, it makes sense seeing these two try to bring out their best versions yet again. But if Izzy is indeed planning a return, who will he face?

Israel Adesanya’s picks for UFC 314

As ‘Izzy’ is taking his time on the sidelines honing his skills, he has kept his social media game active nonetheless. Adesanya has frequently participated as a viewer to predict fights and watch fights on live streams generating many ‘meme’ moments by the UFC veteran while reacting to the unpredictable nature of the sport. His streams have become a must watch with his deep insights throughout the fights.

While talking about his picks for UFC 314, Adesanya chose Reyes to beat Krylov in the event opener and chose Mitchell to reign over Silva. The event’s big fights were also discussed by ‘Izzy’ on a much deeper level as he presented his insights over the next three fights on the card. For Yair Rodriguez vs Patricio Pitbull he picked Yair to TKO the debutant due to ‘El Pantera’s experience at the top level. For the co-main event, he warned Pimblett to remain cautious as Chandler in Izzy’s eyes, will definitely go for an early rush to find his chin and knock him out, picking Chandler over Pimblett.

Izzy’s deep connection with one half of the UFC 314 main event, Alexander Volkanovski, gives us not only an insight to what ‘The Great’ will show us in the octagon but also his mental approach to this fight against a rising talent in Diego Lopes. As Izzy chose Volkanovski to stand as the victor in this bout, he said: “It’s the early rounds I’m mindful of… Volk will mind his P’s and Q’s and get it done,” explaining Volkanovski’s cautiousness in the earlier rounds can help him adjust and capitalize against Lopes.

It may be a long wait before we see ‘The Last Stylebender’ in the octagon again, and even then its not guaranteed that we will see him win. With one foot in the next phase of life, Izzy has built himself a reputation and record in MMA that only some will be able to match. At his best, he remains the biggest threat to the division as he has shown in the past, its just the question of when and if Israel Adesanya can still pullout from his slump and find his way back to the top. What do you think?