Israel Adesanya has made his plan clear: when he walks away from the UFC, he is not coming back. The former middleweight champion told Daniel Cormier as much in a conversation reported Thursday by MMA Fighting, at a point in his career marked by his toughest stretch since he arrived in the organization.
A Conversation With an American Legend
Daniel Cormier, the former two-division UFC champion turned broadcaster, has become one of the sport’s most trusted interviewers since retiring from competition himself. His conversation with Adesanya touched on territory Cormier knows personally: how to walk away from a sport that has defined most of your adult life without losing your sense of purpose. That shared experience shaped much of the exchange, with Cormier pressing Adesanya on specifics rather than letting the usual retirement talking points stand unchallenged.
Three straight finishes, including a loss to Nassourdine Imavov
The slide began when Sean Strickland took his title. Adesanya then tried to win it back against Dricus du Plessis and came up short, before dropping two more fights, to France’s Nassourdine Imavov and most recently to Joe Pyfer, both by finish. He said carrying the middleweight belt for years made it hard to ever take a break, since every pause felt like a professional risk no reigning champion could afford to take. With that pressure gone and no title on the line, Adesanya says he now wants to fight twice a year instead of four times, and give himself real time to recover between octagon appearances.
“Once I’m done, I’m done”
Adesanya does not want to follow the path of former stars who returned to competition because they did not know what else to do with their time. He pointed to the examples of Chuck Liddell, B.J. Penn, Conor McGregor and Tyson Fury, all criticized for hanging on too long or coming back after announcing retirement. His own line left no room for doubt: “I never want to be that guy, so once I’m done, I’m f-ing done.”
Bull runs and poker to replace the adrenaline
One question Adesanya is already thinking through is where he will find the adrenaline rush that has defined his life for years once he is out of the cage. He mentioned running with the bulls or entering the World Series of Poker as possible outlets. “I love the adrenaline, but I guess people have a hard time leaving this life,” he said. He added that staying a beginner rather than an expert in whatever he tries next is, in his words, his best weapon, a mindset of never assuming he already knows a craft, whether that craft is fighting or, down the road, a poker table or a rodeo arena.
Georges St-Pierre, his “Fairy Godmother”
As he thinks through life after fighting, Adesanya says he leans on advice from Georges St-Pierre, whom he calls his “Fairy Godmother.” The Canadian, who retired after dominating two weight classes, carries particular weight on the subject in Adesanya’s eyes. “When he tells me something, I listen. It holds weight,” Adesanya said. He also referenced two major film roles he turned down while he still had to defend his title, roles he says he could now consider with a lighter fight schedule.
Fewer Than Ten Fights Left, By His Own Count
This is not the first time Adesanya has put a number on his remaining career. Back in February 2026, asked how many fights he had left, he answered plainly: “Less than 10. I know it’s less than 10. It can’t be more than 10.” He described a pace of two fights a year that would carry him toward the exit around 2027. “2028 is going to be like, I don’t know yet. I can’t see past 2027,” he said at the time. The three finishes he has absorbed since then have only reinforced that timeline rather than changed it.
No Date Set for His Next Fight
No date has been announced for Israel Adesanya’s next fight, and the UFC has not released any official schedule involving him. The former champion says he plans to move at his own pace, between already-filmed content projects and personal plans in the coming weeks. Fans can track the middleweight picture on our UFC rankings page and follow recent results from his opponents on our UFC results page.
