In a fight filled with tension and little moments, the end results was Israel Adesanya failing in his quest at achieving double-champ status His performance was admirable, but Jan Blachowicz did just enough to earn the nod. Next for Adesanya is a return to middleweight, but maybe not forever.
Adesanya, now, has a more complicated road at middleweight. He’s definitely the champion; there’s no doubt he’s the best in the division. Even against Blachowicz, he stood his ground and was in a competitive fight. While Blachowicz moves on to face Glover Teixeira and other rising contenders, Adesanya goes back to the division where he became a star.
However, the disappointment of losing this past Saturday still stings. Adesanya’s idea of dreaming big has been stalled as well as the possible dream fights against Jon Jones or Francis Ngannou. These dream match-ups are still possible, but for many, the luster has been lost.
For now, it appears middleweight is where Adesanya will stay for the meanwhile but who’s next?
A rematch against Robert Whittaker may be on the horizon if he gets past Paulo Costa. Darren Till and Marvin Vettori are fighting to have a say since both are intriguing.
Vettori lost a relatively close fight against Adesanya much earlier in both of their careers, and Till is one of the few fights Adesanya has publicly rallied for on social media.
Izzy Still Wants Till
Jared Cannonier and Uriah Hall may look to string victories and make their case as well. Both possess otherworldly hands with Hall being a unique challenge since he’s a talented striker in his own right.
Hence, there are options for Adesanya and challengers. Next for Israel Adesanya is a return back to his fitting division. However, the sting of the loss may linger which could propel to one day move up again and give light heavyweight another go.