Israel Adesanya is set to make his return against middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis on August 17 at UFC 305. It will be 11 months since “The Last Stylebender” fought, which is a pretty long time considering Israel's previous three fights came in the same span of time.
In a new interview, Adesanya said the break was necessary to refocus on what he wanted to do in the final stages of his fighting career.
“I definitely needed a break,” he told Siath du Plessis (no relation), “physically, mentally, spiritually, not just from the fight but from training camps and the constant hassle that being a fighter puts on your body, so it was good for me to have a break from the fight.”
“I've learned a lot during my time away. If you actually pay attention to what I'm doing, you'll know that I've always been a patient person, but now I'm more patient, more clear-sighted, and sure of what I want to achieve in this final chapter of my game.”
Adesanya will return to action in a title fight against du Plessis in Perth, Australia, but said he is not driven by a desire to regain the belt.
“I've been UFC middleweight champion twice,” he said, “and a third time would be nice, but that's not really my main goal. What's important to me is to beat fighters from different codes, different countries, great fighters like Dricus, and beat them and put it on my record and move on to the next fight and keep going until I'm done. That's my goal.”
“As for the belt, I always felt like I was definitely going to be UFC champion, but it was a long road to get there. I just enjoyed beating people up, so I came back, enjoyed beating people up, got the belt, it's going to stay, and eventually I'm going to let it go.”
When the discussion turned to how he would handle the size and strength of Dricus du Plessis, Adesanya didn't seem worried.
“I fought Alex Pereira, the biggest guy in the middleweight division, and I knocked him out,” he said. “How do I deal with the uniqueness of Dricus? Just be unique. Be unique in your own way.”
“I will never again stray from my style and flow because I want to do something different or to pander or anything like that. I will always stick to my style and what I do best – beating opponents in a great way. And yes, that's what I've been doing my whole career and I want to get back to that. I'm not so worried about the outcome. It's the journey that matters.”
The fruits of Adesanya's mental refocus will be seen on August 17. Check out the complete UFC 305 card here.
