Izzy Vs. Tarzan? ‘Let Me Get Through DDP First’

Adesanya was on the Theo Von Podcast where he revealed his comeback plans for 2024.

Israel Adesanya is very interested in avenging his loss to Sean Strickland. But first, he’s got a title to win back against Dricus Du Plessis.

The UFC middleweight belt has been moving around a lot lately. Adesanya lost it to Alex Pereira, and then won it back in a rematch. Then he lost it again to Strickland, who lost it to Du Plessis. Now Adesanya plans on taking it from Du Plessis … and then rematching Strickland.

“The Last Stylebender” explained how he saw Strickland as part of his story now, the same as his feud with Pereira.

“[Pereira] took me six years to accomplish,” Adesanya said on the Theo Von show. “With Strickland it won’t take me that long. Let me just get through DDP first.”

“I look to the next fight, never — I look ahead, like a little peek at the future, but I don’t try to focus on it. And I just know the Strickland fight will come back around, and I’m in a good place right now health wise, mentally, and I know exactly what happened in that fight that just wasn’t for me.”

“He’s a great fighter. He’s also a good champion,” Izzy admitted before throwing a barb. “What a reign.”

“I mean, he did what he did. Even the way he beat me was spectacular, it was his moment.”

It’s been five months since Adesanya last fought, which is a long time for him to go without even having a fight booked. He’s been using the time to build up a new arsenal of methods and moves to avoid getting figured out by opposing coaches.

“I’m still learning every day, even right now we’re working again on my jab cuz I’m changing it up now,” he said. “There’s so much footage on me people can watch, the smart coaches can gameplan.”

“My question mark kick was f—ing everyone up at the beginning. Costa fight, he avoided it, but he fell for a different kick. From that fight, people know the question mark was coming and they’re scared of it. My jab used to be vicious. It still is, but I’m just bringing it back, tuning it up again. So it’s constant evolution, constant learning. And my grappling as well, I want to show it off in the cage. I did a little bit in my fight with Alex Pereira in New York, a little bit.”

Israel Adesanya revealed that he’d said yes to a UFC 300 showdown with Dricus Du Plessis, but the middleweight champ was too banged up from his win over Sean Strickland to fight. Now we just have to wait and see how long it takes for that bout to get signed onto a future event.