Before he became a mixed martial artist, Israel Adesanya was a kickboxer. And quite a kickboxer he was, having won 75 fights in the sport for only four losses, even though he never managed to become champion. So good was ‘Izzy’ that former UFC heavyweight star Rashad Evans, had proposed the Kiwi-Nigerian’s name for training partner to Daniel Cormier before his second fight against Jon Jones in 2017. However, the then-kickboxer turned down the opportunity to train with a two-division UFC champion, according to Joe Rogan!

Why? Well, because the legendary AKA gym, where ‘DC’ used to train, was also the stomping grounds of the then-UFC middleweight and former champion Luke Rockhold. Since ‘Izzy’ was already mulling a move to MMA, he didn’t want to work in the same gym as Rockhold and give him a chance to study his game, and most importantly, his weaknesses.

Along with Joe Rogan, Cormier himself has spoken about the experience of reaching out to ‘Izzy’ to have him come and train with him. ‘DC’ admitted that he found it “crazy” that Adesanya had the self-belief and confidence back then that he would be fighting for the UFC title one day

“I asked him to train with me. I sent him a message and Rashad Evans put Adesanya and I into contact when I was fighting Jones… Me and Izzy started messaging back and forth and he was not even in the UFC yet. He didn’t come though because he had anticipated that at some point he’d be fighting Rockhold,” Cormier revealed a few years back.

While Cormier still has the same admiration for Adesanya all these years later, especially since the Kiwi-Nigerian has proven himself time and time again, ‘DC’ is pretty alarmed about ‘Izzy’s future after UFC 305.

Daniel Cormier thinks Israel Adesanya may lose motivation to fight if he loses at UFC 305

Cormier, of course, was very impressed with Adesanya right from his first interactions with him and suspected he was something special, because of his unshakable self-confidence, if nothing else. However, going into the UFC 305, where Adesanya will face Dricus Du Plessis for his old title, Cormier thinks it’s a must-win fight for the Kiwi-Nigerian.

Speaking to ‘Submission Radio’, ‘DC’ claimed that Adesanya will have a huge adjustment to make if he loses in the title bout, since for almost all of his UFC career, ‘Izzy’ has been the man. To the point that Cormier couldn’t even envisage Adesanya being a ‘normal’ top-ranked middleweight, and was afraid ‘Izzy’ may not even have the motivation to continue fighting if put in that place.

“I think Izzy needs to win man. He’s got to win this fight because I don’t know what the career looks like for a guy like Israel Adesanya if he isn’t in the title reign. Motivation is a tricky thing, especially for a guy that seems to have everything… I don’t know he has that run in him and I don’t know should he have to have that run in him because he’s done so much already,” a clearly concerned Cormier said.

Do you agree with ‘DC’s take on what could happen if ‘Izzy’ loses at UFC 305? Let us know in the comments below.