Izzy To Sit Cageside At UFC 297, Used For ‘Promotional Purposes’

Israel Adesanya is still in the middle of his Octagon sabbatical, but that isn’t stopping the former UFC champion from sitting cageside for the middleweight title fight between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis next weekend at UFC 297 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Adesanya, who is widely regarded as one of the best middleweight fighters of all time, is currently enjoying some time off from fighting. After losing his title to Strickland at UFC 293 in Sept. 2023 in an upset decision, “Last Stylebender” decided to step away from the sport and regroup. After all, Adesanya has fought a total of 16 times since making his Octagon debut back in 2018. It was time for a much-needed vacation.

Earlier this week, Adesanya revealed that he’s currently rehabbing an undisclosed injury and targeting a return to the gym in the coming months. That doesn’t give fight fans a true timetable for his official UFC comeback, but it seems as if Adesanya’s return is heating up.

Adding fuel to that fire is the fact that “Last Stylebender” will reportedly be in attendance to watch Strickland defend his UFC middleweight title against Du Plessis next weekend at UFC 297 (according to a report by the New Zealand Herald). Adesanya has history with both men. Strickland defeated him not too long ago and Du Plessis is one of Adesanya’s biggest grudge matches on paper.

If UFC is bringing Adesanya to UFC 297 for “promotional purposes” then that could mean he’s fighting the winner of Strickland vs. Du Plessis. Some were hoping that scenario would play out at UFC 300 in April, but Adesanya’s current timeline for his return may prevent that.

Either way, it will be interesting to see if Adesanya is brought into the cage for a faceoff with the winner of Strickland vs. Du Plessis to promote the next UFC middleweight title fight. UFC may opt to keep Adesanya in the crowd since he launched an explicit tirade against Du Plessis the last time they did an in-cage faceoff (see if HERE).

What do you think, Maniacs? Is Adesanya attending UFC 279 to challenge the winner of the main event or is he going just as a fan?

Let’s discuss!