Israel Adesanya told to take a break after losing UFC title to Sean Strickland

15 September 2023 , 13:02

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Sean Strickland recently shocked the world by taking Israel Adesanya's middleweight championship (Image: Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Israel Adesanya has been advised to take a break from the UFC after his world title loss to Sean Strickland.

Adesanya was expected to breeze past top contender Strickland in their middleweight title clash at UFC 293 last weekend, but he instead lost the belt in a shocking upset. Strickland was expecting to leave the cage battered and bruised but he didn't have a mark on his face after 25-minutes, whilst it was Adesanya who left with a swollen eye and no UFC belt around his waist.

'The Last Stylebender' has now been told by his close friend Kamaru Usman to take some time away from the cage. Both Usman and Adesanya were two of the most active champions during their UFC title reigns, but the former welterweight champion thinks Adesanya's activity may have caught up to him.

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“I think the activity might be a little too much,” Usman told DC & RC. “Izzy has been fighting a lot. Between when I was champion, myself, Izzy, we were fighting for quite a few pay-per-views. Izzy’s at a point where I think he could just take a little break, and I think he can make the necessary adjustments to be able to come out there and win that fight.”

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Usman thinks activity also caught up with him as he lost his belt to Leon Edwards last August and failed to win it back in their March rematch. “Yes, I was definitely in his position. I honestly, looking back now, I probably rushed it. I probably should have taken a little bit more time off and then I’m still guaranteed that shot to go fight for that title," he admitted.

“For Israel as a competitor, I’m sure he’s feeling a bit of this as well and thinking, ‘No, this guy shouldn’t have beat me in the first place’ just like I felt. This guy shouldn’t be in there with me in the first place as I felt and so you want to get it back and get that stain off you right away. If you’re guaranteed that shot, I would like to see him take a little bit of time and enjoy life.”

UFC boss Dana White hinted that Adesanya would get an immediate rematch against Strickland in a bid to reclaim his belt, but has since backtracked on his original comments. "Never once did I say 'Yes, we are going to do this rematch', I said 'Yeah, the rematch sounds [good]'. There are lots of options out there and we'll see what happens," he said.

Harry Davies