SALT LAKE CITY – Israel Adesanya is focused on surpassing Anderson Silva as the greatest middleweight in MMA history, but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of the UFC champ changing weight classes.
Adesanya (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) has never lost a fight in his career at 185 pounds. The lone blemish on his resume came in a light heavyweight contest when he came up short in a bid to become a two-division champion against then-titleholder Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 in March 2021.
Although his previous attempt to move up in weight didn’t go as planned, Adesanya’s manger Tim Simpson, who is the vice president of MMA for Paradigm Sports, said there’s a good chance of another division change down the line.
In fact, Simpson thinks his client could not only move up one weight class, but reinforced Adesanya’s previous notion that he could go up two and fight at heavyweight.
“He’s mentioned he wants to go back up to 205,” Simpson told MMA Junkie. “Obviously, the last time he came up short. But I think he would be very comfortable in that division again if that’s what he wants to do. It’s really up to him and Eugene (Bareman) on the athletic side. But I think he has business he wants to attend to at 185 first. He says he wants to fight everybody of his era in that weight class, which he almost has done.
“He wants to go down as the greatest of all-time in that division, and there’s opportunity to stay there and keep fighting. But the door’s open to light heavyweight, even heavyweight. He’s had success at heavyweight in kickboxing, too.”
Before any further energy goes into the possibility of moving up, Adesanya has a captivating challenge already on the books in the form of a UFC 281 title defense against Alex Pereira. The Brazilian is a unique test because he already holds two victories over “The Last Stylebender” in the kickboxing ring.
It’s been a rapid ascent up the rankings for Pereira, who earned a title shot with a first-round knockout of Sean Strickland at UFC 276. There’s a storyline built in for this fight, but Simpson said it’s not personal for Adesanya.
“I believe him when he said he made peace with what happened,” Simpson said. “It’s easy to be frustrated with the way the second one ended. When you watch the first fight, he won the first fight. It was a terrible decision. He won that fight the first time. Then the second one, he won Round 1, a 10-8 in Round 2, he was winning Round 3 and got caught – fair play to Alex. I think in his heart, it’s not like, ‘That guy’s better than me.’ He did lose both fights, but I don’t feel there’s a chip on his shoulder about this guy. He wants to settle it, certainly shut some mouths, but it’s not something that’s been eating at him for years, like, ‘I’ve got to get Pereira back.’ He was happy never fighting Pereira.”
If Adesanya is able to beat Pereira and record a sixth consecutive title defense, Simpson said he already sees a couple possible opponents at 185 pounds.
“Obviously, the Pereira fight is meaningful for the backstory they had in another sport, and there’s another few guys who have been real mainstays at middleweight that he wants on his resume, as well,” Simpson said. “I know he wants to make that Strickland fight. I know he wants to fight Jack Hermansson, who has been a perennial top-five guy for the past five years. There’s other names at middleweight.”
Although Adesanya got some heat from fans for an underwhelming fight with Jared Cannonier in his most recent title defense at UFC 276 in July, Simpson said the current champ is still one of the biggest stars in the sport.
Adesanya is becoming a name who is garnering opportunity beyond just stepping into the octagon to fight, and Simpson only expects that stardom to flourish going forward.
“He’s transcended MMA,” Simpson said. “He’s done that a few years ago, to be fair, but a huge amount of opportunities commercially. He’s working with major blue-chip sponsors and partners for a long time. There’s been some opportunities in Hollywood that we’ve had to turn down based on schedule. He’s the most sought-after guy outside of Conor and really leading the charge in this sport for notoriety, for star power, and it’s a credit to him and his personality and everything he’s built. He turns everything he does to gold.
“He can be a brand ambassador for anybody. He’s great on-camera. He just treats people really well. People enjoy working with him. He treats everyone with respect, he treats everyone well, and he’s a guy that’s always going to grow in star power, anyway, just naturally from his own natural charisma. And obviously what he does athletically is the driver for that, too.”
Manager: ‘Door’s open’ for UFC champ Israel Adesanya to return to 205 and ‘even heavyweight’
