UFC: Adesanya eager to fight again before end of 2024

Israel Adesanya has given an insight into when his next fight will be, with the former middleweight champion sharing that he would like to compete in the UFC before the end of 2024.

“At the moment, I want to fight one more time before the end of this year, or early next year,” the Nigerian-New Zealander said on Tuesday evening.

“But I don’t know yet.

“I’m just training, building off where we left off, and I’ll get the call at some point with a few options.

“I’m sure Dana White will hit me up at some point.”

Adesanya has suffered back-to-back defeats in the UFC, most recently losing by submission to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 in August.

Despite the losses, the 35-year-old believes he is still the name to beat in the division.

“I’m still Israel Adesanya,” he said.

“Even though I don’t have the belt, they still got my name in their mouth.

“For me, I’ll let them call me out, or whatever.”

Adesanya will be hard-pressed to find a spot in a busy UFC calendar over the next three months, with UFC 310 the only numbered event yet to announce a main event.

Adesanya explains what went wrong against du Plessis

Heading into his clash against du Plessis, Adesanya was a moderate favourite at UFC betting sites.

The former champ explained the one mistake he made that allowed the South African to submit him in the fourth round.

“It was just a moment in the fight where, it was my footwork,” he explained.

“I did something and I slipped.

“And then I pointed to the ground and was like, ‘It wasn’t you, it was the ground’.

“In that moment, I shouldn’t have pointed to the ground.

“He jumped on that.”

Even though Adesanya’s decision-making cost him the UFC middleweight title, he confessed that he was not too invested in the result against du Plessis.

“Look, this is the game,” Adesanya said.

“I messed up, my bad, but I wasn’t really attached to the outcome.

“I just wanted to show off.

“I wanted to actually be in a fight, and it was a good fight. I enjoyed myself.

“I can’t wait to do it again.

“Against who? We’ll find out.”

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