Things have not been going well in Israel’s Adesanya cage lately. The former UFC middleweight champion and future Hall of Famer has lost his last four fights in a row. And the last three of those were all stoppages.
In March he was knocked out Joe Pyfer in the second round. Before that he was truncated and the lightning KO was done by Nassourdine Imavov. The final victory of the last Stylebender was his aura breeding Alex Pereira Revenge KO in 2023.
Clearly, Adesanya’s best fighting years are behind him at this point. This week, Adesanya uploaded a video to YouTube with his friend and training partner Aleksandr Volkanovski to discuss what his retirement might look like.
Neither fighter gave any timelines for when those retirements might come. Adesanya said he is committed to retirement when that day comes, a difficult task for most MMA fighters.
“Personally, I think after it’s all said and done, every two months, maybe every three months, I need or want to do something,” Adesanya said (h/t Alexander K. Lee MMA fight). “No need, I don’t know. Maybe I’d like to do something risky, like run with the bulls. Maybe jump into the World Series of Poker. … You see, my secret with poker is I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, which is my best weapon, I believe. But I’d like to do something like that, just take a risk, because I like it, but I like it. It’s hard to leave this life.”
Despite feeling like he still needs an adrenaline rush, Adesanya vowed he won’t be looking for one when he returns to the fight.
“I’ve seen it in this game. The accolades, the spotlight. When they get done, they can come out of retirement because they don’t know what to do with themselves. I never want to be that guy, so when I’m done, I’m damned done.”
Adesanya also said he’s looking forward to pursuing some acting opportunities when his calendar is a little more open. He claimed he previously turned down two big appearances in preparation for title fights.
Adesanya’s friend Volkanovski can help him in this. We will see him in the new one A street fighter movie next week. Adesanya said he also got advice from Georges St-Pierre, someone else who has parlayed his fight fame into a wider media career.
“And also talking to Georges (St-Pierre), he’s like my fairy godmother, he just pops up in the most random places. … He just drops gems and just lets you know where you are because a lot of people haven’t been where we’ve been, so they can’t relate and Georges can handle it. He’s retired and he’s done something for me at the highest level. I hear that after talking to him and consulting with myself, I have this opportunity that we we filmed so much that we’re going to travel for the next few weeks, and then I’ll be happy to fight.”
Few people in MMA have retired as well as St-Pierre. The Canadian went on hiatus after defeating Johny Hendricks in 2013 to defend his tenth UFC lightweight title. He returned four years later and made short work of Michael Bisping to win the UFC middleweight title. ‘Rush’ then bid farewell to fighting (it seems).
There’s a reason why the term “MMA retirement” often elicits a chuckle. This weekend we have Niko Price returns for another fight (allegedly) after saying he was retiring earlier this year. A few weeks ago Anthony Smith lost his throat MMA fight after the UFC gave him an unusually exciting retirement ceremony.
We often groan when we hear a fighter is retiring because so often we see them come back and throw a few more punches before finally calling it quits for good. However, there is a reason why it continues. Fighters give their lives for it. And when their bodies break down, many of them don’t have much to replace (either for pleasure or compensation).
I hope Adesanya retires like St-Pierre, not like Smith. Unfortunately, given the way the sport is run, it’s hard to feel confident that this will happen.
