Israel Adesanya has something to prove at UFC Seattle: ‘I want people to be like wow, f*ck how did I ever doubt him?’
Israel Adesanya isn’t blind to the narrative surrounding his upcoming fight against Joe Pyfer in the UFC Seattle main event.
As one of the greatest middleweights in UFC history, everything Adesanya does gets magnified but the noise has gotten even louder lately as he attempts to bounce back off three straight losses. After not tasting defeat through the first 20 fights of his professional MMA career, the 36-year-old veteran has faced a lot of adversity lately, which includes two title fight losses to Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis and then getting knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov back in February 2025.
This time around, Adesanya isn’t facing a champion, former champion or even a top five ranked opponent. Truth be told, Pyfer’s credentials pale in comparison but Adesanya recognizes why this matchup was offered to him.
“This is like the classic tale,” Adesanya said during UFC Seattle media day. “Because I’ve watched this game for so long, this is the classic tale of when they try to get the old guard and give him a young dog.”
Many times these kinds of fights are built around a younger fighter taking out the veteran with hopes that winning propels them to a new level of stardom and recognition. Pyfer, who holds a 6-1 record in the UFC with five finishes along the way, could certainly use somebody like Adesanya to build his resume as he aims to climb the middleweight rankings.
But Adesanya prefers to flip the script and instead of crowning Pyfer as the next big thing on Saturday, he wants to vanquish his younger foe and remind the world that “The Last Stylebender” is still one of the best middleweights on the planet.
“For me, I’ve seen how this goes,” Adesanya said. “This is the cycle. Sometimes us old fellas, us older guys stop them in their tracks. This fight for me, the story I’m telling myself, the story I’m going to write this weekend after a year off, he comes back and just performs better than he ever has or just like he did. \
“You know how the game is, people just [say] ‘you’re only as good as your last fight’ — so when I’m done this weekend I want people to be like ‘wow, f*ck how did I ever doubt him? How did I ever think he was done? Like what the f*ck was I thinking?’ That’s the story I want to write this weekend.”
With more than a year off between fights, Adesanya has been bludgeoned with questions about how much time he has left in the sport and if his matchup against Pyfer might be a do-or-die moment for his career.
Of course, Adesanya recognizes that no one wants to endure four losses in a row but he prefers to stay focused on the here and now with Pyfer receiving all of his attention until after Saturday night. But make no mistake, Adesanya still has plenty of fight left in him no matter the result in his upcoming fight.
“I still have so much left on the table,” Adesanya said. “For me, I’m taking everything one moment at a time. One day at a time. One fight at a time. Because the world’s crazy right now so we don’t know what’s going to happen. So everything is just about this moment, also I’m in a different place in my career. When I was coming up I’m fighting actively, five times in my first year in the UFC, calling out name after name after name, picking my opponents but I am me, they call me out.
“I’ve been away for a year and I’ve had a few callouts that I hear about through the grapevine and I’m like OK, cool. I don’t really have to do all that stuff. I just have to come in there and get my job done.”
So what does an ideal performance look like for Adesanya on Saturday? The best word to describe that might be vintage.
“I go in there, touch gloves, face off, get into my stance and I just go at him, attack him straight away,” Adesanya said. “He tries to hit me, I’m not there. Then when I’m hitting him, he’s going to be like ‘right, let’s shoot.’ Shoots, stuff the takedown because the takedown defense starts from the feet, starts from the distance. I want to be clean. I want to go in there and let him hit fresh air.”
Adesanya clearly hopes his fight against Pyfer serves as a reminder that he’s still one of the best to ever do it but he’s also cognizant that no matter the result, he’s one of one and the UFC is just a better place when he’s around.
“I have missed fighting but I think the sport’s missed me,” Adesanya said. “From what I’m hearing in my DM’s from fans, again, I was one of the last real ones who was active, not just holding the belt for no reason. Fight everybody. I’m just happy to be back.”
