“Who’s gonna carry the boats?” Well, it might be Israel Adesanya’s turn. After Tony Ferguson’s gritty run with David Goggins, ‘The Last Stylebender’ could be the next fighter to dive into Goggins’ ‘Hell Week’. Adesanya is battling through the roughest patch of his career, three straight losses, with the last one against Nassourdine Imavov in Saudi Arabia being his most brutal one. Yet, he’s shown nothing but contentment in defeat. A mental reset might be exactly what he needs to rise again. So, he’s ready to go through what ‘El Cucuy’ at UFC 296 media day described, “one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life.”

Israel Adesanya had more than just fights to worry about. Even so, he managed to pull off one of the wildest knockouts of his career at UFC 287, putting down Alex Pereira in a way fans won’t forget anytime soon. His personal life got into the spotlight, especially after a public split with his ex-girlfriend. Then, at UFC 290, he showed up wearing a “He’s Not Your Bank” t-shirt ahead of his face-off with Dricus Du Plessis. Around that timeline, he started talking more about manhood, and on Braso’s YouTube channel, he name-dropped David Goggins, Jordan Peterson, and Andrew Tate.

He said, “Jordan, Andrew, Dave Goggins. Guys like that, they’re the ones who are really pushing men to be accountable as men,” Adesanya said. “The world right now is trying to soften us. I mean, what did they say? Jordan actually said how you were back in the day, if someone like the kings and whatnot wanna stop an uproar or an uprising, would kill all the fighting-age males. Can’t kill them right now so what do you do? You p—ify them. Make them feel emasculated. Literally.” 

Adesanya might have just found David Goggins as the perfect helper for his bounce-back. After facing a rough patch in his career, ‘The Last Stylebender’ looks like he’s ready to push himself to the edge. He recently gave fans a sneak peek into his intense training session. On his FREESTYLEBENDER Instagram, the Nigerian Kiwi shared a teaser clip titled: “One of the most brutal training sessions Izzy has ever done. We dropping this video raw and uncut.” The full video is set to drop soon on his YouTube channel.

Adesanya seems to be leaning into that Goggins mindset right now for a much-needed mental and physical push. But why is he back in training mode? Turns out, Sean O’Malley and his coach, Tim Welch, recently shared a training session with the former two-time two-middleweight champ. Welch, describing the experience spending time with the 185 lbs legend, hinted towards a possible Sean Strickland rematch.

“Another thing with Izzy—he was saying he’s kinda enjoying his life,” Welch said. “Before, he was just taking all these back-to-back fights. If you look at some of the old pay-per-views, every other one, he was the headliner. He seemed like he was wanting that Strickland fight back.”

Maybe it’s about redemption for taking back the biggest loss of his career. Either way, Israel Adesanya is clearly pushing himself hard. Fans have already voiced concern after seeing him walking through what looked like a staircase of agony alongside David Goggins. The MMA world is split. Some believe ‘Izzy’s gearing up for a return. Others fear he’s heading down the same path Tony Ferguson did, where the losses kept stacking up, and the fall became impossible to stop.

Fans react as Israel Adesanya trains with David Goggins

One user didn’t hold back, pointing out that David Goggins was in Tony Ferguson’s corner at UFC 296—the same night Ferguson was thoroughly dominated by Paddy Pimblett. “Last time this r— was near a fighter, they got destroyed.” Another chimed in, “This is a great experience regardless of the outcome,” most likely with a sprinkle of sarcasm. For the unversed, ‘Hell Week’ is the brutal Navy Seal test where candidates are physically pushed for over 20 hours a day. It’s the same trial that made Goggins a legend. Whether it’s “a great experience” or not really depends on who’s going through it. We learned about Ferguson’s experience, and all will be revealed with Adesanya sooner or later.

Another fan wrote, “The Goggins curse vs the Drake curse… or vs the Nina curse.” And honestly, the UFC has seen its fair share of so-called curses over the years. The Drake curse is probably the most well-known—fighters and athletes seemingly doomed after the rapper bets on them to win. Israel Adesanya actually broke the curse that one at UFC 276, when he defeated Jared Cannonier despite Drake placing a hefty $1 million bet on him.

But the “Nina Drama curse”? That one’s been harder to overcome. After being interviewed by Nina at both UFC 305 and the Saudi Arabia card, Adesanya suffered back-to-back finishes. So, witnessing him with Goggins has made fans really nervous.

Adesanya’s takedown defense is pretty solid, but he’s not known for taking his opponents down. So, a user took a dig at his training and wrote, “Biggest waste of time should train with Islam”. Another user also pointed out another possibility, “At this rate I won’t be surprised if he trains with Alex Pereira.” This collaboration can also happen, given the fact that both he and Pereira shared some moments at UFC 312 in Australia. Still, another user kept the fear alive and commented, “Bro is following the Tony Ferguson timeline lmfaooo.”

Will Israel Adesanya bounce back after training with David Goggins or is he pushing himself too far? Let us know what you think in the comments below.