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Former UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya tapped out to UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis in the main event of UFC 305.
While some may want to see Adesanya get an immediate rematch with Du Plessis, it is not something that Adesanya is seeking at the moment.
“I’m not really desperate to get it back,” Adesanya said in the post-fight press conference (transcript via Damon Martin of MMA Fighting). “He gave me a lot of respect in there and I gave him his respect back. I already knew he was a fan of me. But now I’m a fan of his because we’ve been in there, we’ve done it. When I’m in South Africa, I’ll tap in with him. I said, ‘Look, we can hang out, but just so you know, when we have to fight again, I’m going to kill you.’ He’s lik,e ‘I’m going to kill you too.’ Respect is always there.
“Dricus is an African champion. But the three kings will reign supreme. That era [with Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou] right there was what set this off for people like him. He’s going to inspire another generation of African fighters as well. So congrats to him tonight. Until we meet again.”
Adesanya has now lost three of his last four and is currently in the midst of a two fight losing streak.
Some thought that Adesanya would retire after the loss at UFC 305, but Adesanya says that he will make that decision when he is ready.
“People just read too much into shit,” Adesanya said. “For me, who knows what happens. Life is fleeting. Who knows what happens. [Du Plessis] might never come back if something happens. Any one of us in this room could go tomorrow. I try and take each fight, each moment as if it was my last.
“I only took the gloves off because it was tight after the fight. He’s got a strong head. I hit him with some shots so my hands were a bit, not broken, not even close, but just a little bit sore. So that’s why I took the gloves off. Nothing about retiring. No, I told you I’m not f*cking leaving. I’m not f*cking leaving until I want to leave.”
