Israel Adesanya lost against Dricus Du Plessis in a powerful showdown at UFC 305 and this shocked the MMA world. Everyone was expecting a victory for the former middleweight champ. Adesanya was coming off from a year-long hiatus because he was on a break after losing to Sean Strickland. The main question that the fans and the veterans had was why didn’t the last style bender used the leg kicks that were always effective in making him win. There was a little habit that cost Izzy his win, as per Mike Tyson’s ex-coach and boxing commentator. 

While speaking to Ken Rideout, Teddy Atlas broke down the UFC 305 main card fight and the reason why Izzy could not win against DDP. He pointed out one habit that Izzy has which became a thorn on his road and restricted his victory. The coach said, “What got him there? A strike got him there. What got him where he could lad the strike was a habit by Izzy who is a great athlete who’s one of the greatest middleweights UFC of all time but has a habit of going back straight.”

According to Mike Tyson’s ex-coach, Izzy has good leg work and amazing reflexes. However, he also has to take into account his age since he is 35 years old. According to Atlas, at this particular age, a technical mistake of going back straight can cost him his victory. It was almost like playing “Russian roulette” according to the veteran. 

He stated, “Izzy was going back straight early rounds getting away with it. But I am sure that Du Plessis took note. I am sure his corner took note.” DDP’s team must have warned him about this and told him to catch hold of Izzy when he went back, since he was exposed at that time.

Even though Atlas had commended Izzy’s mentality during his fight with Alex Pereira, he admitted that this one habit was not always good for the fighter. Interestingly, even Pereira had commented on the UFC 305 fight and mentioned why Adesanya did not use leg kicks.

Alex Pereira breaks down the reason for Adesanya’s fighting style at UFC 305

‘Poatan’ spoke about the loss on his YouTube channel and gave his theories about why ‘The Last Stylebender’ did not use his signature kicks. He said, “I don’t know how Adesanya was… Maybe Adesanya had an injury, I don’t know.” An injury might be a plausible explanation for Izzy to not use his signature kicks, especially because he was returning after a year of hiatus. However, Pereira did point out that Adesanya was holding back against Du Plessis.

He emphasized, “You could see he kicked very little. Things I saw, that inside kick of Adesanya is very good. Not everyone can do that, but he can do it very well. It was a good weapon, and he didn’t continue doing that inside kick. Even Dricus said it bothered him, which also bothered me. I said it before to the people who asked me. He didn’t continue to do it. When he is only throwing hands, I think it’s easier for the opponent to protect themselves, or to get out.”

This loss might have made Pereira want to get back to 185 lbs because his idea is to come back at middleweight as of now. On the other hand, even Du Plessis is planning to jump a division as the MW champ wants to go up a division to fight Pereira. What do you think will ultimately happen? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.