An ex-UFC heavyweight contender thinks he has a good idea of how the final chapter of Israel Adesanya's career will play out.
Dricus Du Plessis believes that after everything that Adesanya has accomplished in his career, he no longer has the same hunger to compete at the highest level. "The Last Stylebender" has a great run in the UFC's middleweight division, and even if he was to walk away today, he'd be regarded as one of the best to ever do it in his weight class.
However, having recaptured the 185-pound title once before, the big question is whether the time that he has spent away will produce a rejuvenated Adesanya at UFC 305 this weekend.
He was incredibly active before taking a year off, and this meant that he was battling through injuries and potentially lost some focus heading into UFC 293 last September,
His loss to Sean Strickland was a shocking upset but it could have potentially led to what would be a third title reign for Adesanya.
Brendan Schaub Predicts Israel Adesanya Is Far From Done In MMA Following UFC 305
During his preview of all the action that is set to take place at UFC 305 this Saturday (Sunday local time) in Perth, Brendan Schaub gave his prediction for Adesanya's path to retirement.
Unlike Du Plessis, he doesn't think that "The Last Stylebender" is ready to walk away right now without becoming a UFC champion once again.
Schaub believes that Adesanya still has some career-defining fights left in him and went bold on the idea that when all is said and done, he will overtake the great Anderson Silva as being the best fighter to ever grace the middleweight division.
This is how Izzy's career is gonna go. He's gonna beat Dricus, he's gonna outclass him on Saturday. He's gonna beat the s*** out of him, he's gonna outclass this dude. It's gonna be the old vintage Izzy. By old I mean, a year ago. He's gonna beat the s*** out of him because he's had rest, he's no longer the hunted, he's the hunter.
He's gonna beat Dricus, then he's gonna fight Sean Strickland and he's gonna be 100 percent focused. He's gonna beat Sean Strickland. Then, he's gonna take a break and then you're gonna get Alex (Pereira) vs. Izzy at 205 (pounds); it's his last fight ever and his wins over Dricus and Sean Strickland, I think there's an argument now, makes him the greatest middleweight of all time. That's how his story ends.