Dricus Du Plessis says Israel Adesanya ‘deserves’ some time off, but advises against a lengthy hiatus.
Israel Adesanya (24-3 MMA), a former two-time middleweight champion, suffered his third career loss this past September at UF 293 when Sean Strickland (28-5 MMA) defeated him by unanimous decision. Strickland emerged as the new UFC middleweight champion.
Following the loss, the 34 year old Adesanya has been somewhat quiet, maintaining he’ll take some time off, heal himself and possibly make his return to the Octagon in 2027.
Speaking to ‘The Mac Life’, when asked about his return to fighting, Adesanya responded:
“2027. 2027. Look for the return. I’ll see you then.”
2027 is a long ways away – and ‘The Last Stylebender’ would be 38 by then. It’s hard to say if Adesanya was serious or not about such a long hiatus.
Speaking with James Lynch for MyMMANews, Du Plessis spoke about his rival, Adesanya:
“The man was active. That’s one thing we can say about Adesanya as a champion. He showed up. He didn’t shy away from fights. He fought everybody, some people twice. He was very active as a champion.”
Continuing, Dricus Du Plessis said that while time away may be good for Israel Adesanya, he shouldn’t wait to long to get back in the game:
“I think he deserves some time away from the sport. He said 2027. If he comes back in 2027, he’s gonna get hurt. He shouldn’t do that, but taking some time off, maybe taking a year off, that would be good for him. I think he earned that. I think as one of the best to ever do it in the Middleweight division he deserves to take some time off and right now, as a person, I do not like Adesanya for obvious reasons. As a fighter, as a martial artist to another martial artist, a guy that I know also embodies the martial artist way, he needs to stay strong right now. He can’t lose it. You can’t lose it outside of the ring.”
As for Dricus Du Plessis, he’ll be getting his own shot at the middleweight title when he challenges Sean Strickland at UFC 297 on Saturday January 20th at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario.
Do you think Adesanya will take such a long break from MMA? Do you believe Du Plessis can defeat Strickland in the new year?
Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!
