Israel Adesanya faces a lot of unknowns when he competes in the main event at the UFC Saudi Arabia event on Saturday.
For the first time in his career, the former middleweight champion is returning to action off two straight losses after falling to Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis in consecutive fights. While he’s obviously competed in non-title fights before, it’s been five years since Adesanya set foot in the octagon without a UFC championship going up for grabs and that was also the last time he fought on a non pay-per-view event.
That narrative may drive the conversation ahead of his upcoming fight against Nassourdine Imavov but don’t expect Adesanya to approach this matchup any differently much less being obsessed with trying to avoid a third straight loss.
“I’m not thinking like that,” Adesanya told MMA Fighting on behalf of Stake.com. “I’m just going in there ready to dominate. I’m not thinking I don’t want another loss. That’s a weird way to frame it because I’m just thinking of what I don’t want. I’m in that frequency.
“No, I have not been thinking that. I’m just going to go in there and do what I do, do my best. I know what I am when I’m at my best.”
Israel Adesanya isn’t concerned if he becomes UFC champion again or not: ‘I’m not chasing the belt but the belt chases me’ - MMA Fighting
