Former fighter Matt Brown has weighed in on Israel Adesanya’s recent loss at UFC Fight Night Saudi Arabia.
The defeat marked Adesanya’s third consecutive defeat and has sparked widespread speculation about his future. According to Brown, having lost four of his last five fights, Adesanya may need to reconsider his championship aspirations in the UFC.
“He’s got to be thirsty again,” Brown explained on the latest episode of MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs. The Writer. “He’s got to go back to getting up at 5 a.m. on your silk sheets and not going out on Saturday night. You’ve got to go back to those things you did as a youth.
“That’s a hard thing to do. It’s not easy. He’s comfortable. He’s had an amazing career. That’s hard to forget all that and go back to training, going back to those day-one things. Should he retire? I think that’s the big question. That’s going to be up to himself, but I would have to agree that he’s probably not getting back to title fights any time soon. Probably never again.”
Adesanya must make adjustments if he hopes to contend for a championship again. However, the middleweight division, unlike some others in the UFC, lacks an abundance of established stars.
This raises questions about Adesanya’s long-term goals, as Brown suggests.
“He’ll have to decide for himself if he wants to retire because he’s held the title for so long. It’s like, do you want to keep fighting middle-of-the-road fights or whatever?” Brown said. “I was trying to think of some fun fights that would just be fun for him. Nothing really came up in my head. I’m sure there are always options out there that would be fun. The other option, if the UFC would let him do it — I know we would all love to see him in some influencer boxing stuff. I’d love to see him fight Jake Paul or something.
“But what’s he going to do in the UFC? What are you going to do? How excited are you going to get to just fight [random] guys? If you’re not working towards a goal, working towards the title, you’re just putting yourself at risk all the time. Now if he needs the money, that’s a different thing. I’m hoping he doesn’t.”
As Adesanya approaches his 36th birthday, he may need to reinvent his fighting style. Brown points out that Adesanya’s current approach relies heavily on quick reactions, precise striking, and impeccable timing — attributes that will naturally decline with age.
