Israel Adesanya says he is not ready to retire despite dropping his fourth straight fight in the UFC, a second-round TKO loss to Joe Pyfer in the UFC Fight Night 271 main event this past February.
Adesanya, 36, now sits at 24-6 in his professional MMA career and 13-6 in the UFC, but made it clear he has no intention of walking away from the sport yet.
"Even if we take a hit, like I said, four in a row for me, no matter what, the equity might be down, but we're still up than most people who even came into this game," Adesanya said. "That's something I don't want to rest on. Because I'm not going to be like, 'Well, I've done what I had to do. I can lose now.'"
"Nah, f*ck that. Also, my ego is very tied into this. I know what I can do still. For me, I don't want this to be the writing of my story because I feel like, yes, I took part in this, but this is not how I want to conclude this chapter of my life. So, that's why I'm adamant that the grass is green on this side, and I can tend to it and garden it properly, and let it be lush and bloom properly."
The former UFC middleweight champion once defended the title five times, second most in the division behind Anderson Silva. Alex Pereira ended Adesanya's initial reign at UFC 281, and although Adesanya reclaimed the belt by defeating Pereira at UFC 287 in April 2023, he has not won a fight since.
