Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is all set to make a return at UFC 305. After losing his title at UFC 293, the 34-year-old took some time off. However, the former champion has finally decided to make a return and will be challenging for the title next. While most MMA fans are excited about his return, Joe Rogan feels a bit differently.
The JRE host released his latest episode of the JRE Fight Companion for the UFC Fight Night event. While speaking to the guest, he shared his honest opinion about Adesanya’s return fight. According to the 56-year-old, Sean Strickland should have got a nod ahead of him.
Joe Rogan wants to see Sean Strickland in a title fight soon
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Former UFC fighter, Brendan Schaub, seemed quite excited about the return of Adesanya. Schaub said, “I like what they did with Izzy right. He’s coming off a loss and then he’s been out for what a year at least. Then they’re giving him a title shot.” While Rogan did approve of the fact, he felt Sean Strickland should have got a nod ahead of him. Strickland lost his title against Dricus Du Plessis and the JRE host felt he deserved a title shot. The 56-year-old said, “That’s true, but if that’s true, why didn’t Sean get the rematch?”
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Rogan further made it clear that ‘Tarzan’ lost a very close fight at UFC 297. Both Adesanya and Strickland are former champions, and choosing Adesanya over ‘Tarzan’ hasn’t impressed Rogan yet. He stated, “Because Sean won that fight, I thought. I thought it was very close, but I thought Strickland should have got that decision. Why not give him a rematch?” According to Rogan, the pair has a lot of history between them, which makes the battle interesting.
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‘The Last Stylebender’ has used his time wisely and helped his body recover during this period. It seems he has now decided to adopt a new mindset, which will help him in his return fight.
Israel Adesanya is all set to make a comeback with a new approach at UFC 305
After losing his title to Sean Strickland, the 34-year-old is taking a completely new approach during his training. Adesanya took to his YouTube channel to share some details about his new strength and conditioning plan, coming in with a new mindset this time around. Adesanya said, “People are like, ‘Oh, I hope you get the belt back, I hope you get the belt back,’ I have belts. I don’t need any more belts. I’m coming for heads. That’s what I want to do. Just a few that I have to touch, and take”.
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With UFC 305 just around the corner, it seems ‘The Last Stylebender’ is taking matters into his own hands. The 34-year-old said, “…right now it’s just the time for training, chilling, working, relaxing, healing. And then when it’s time, time for killing.” As a former champion, Adesanya will be desperate to get the title back. However, it seems he is more focused on his rivalry with ‘Stillknocks’ rather than winning the title.
Will Israel Adesanya get his title back at UFC 305? Let us know in the comments below.