To say that Demetrious Johnson was upset at seeing Israel Adesanya being annihilated by Nassourdine Imavov would be an understatement. ‘Izzy’, of course, shockingly got caught with a massive right by the Dagestan native in their UFC Saudi Arabia clash. The former 185lbs kingpin was sent crashing to the ground and the fight was stopped shortly after.

And Johnson, who was reacting to the fight live, absolutely melted down. ‘DJ’ couldn’t believe what had happened and admitted that he had a headache after firing off endless expletives. “No! F–k! Get up, Izzy! F–k! F–k! God damnit,” Johnson, who looked on the verge of tears, said. This seems to have touched Adesanya, who took to X and profusely praised Mighty Mouse, even comparing him to a superhero.

“The Greatest Of All Time!
Dr Strange checked in multiple universes….
He’s the GOAT with the biggest horns! 🐐,” Adesanya wrote.

‘Izzy’ and ‘DJ’, as you can probably tell from the latter’s reaction, are good friends. Adesanya has great respect and admiration for Johnson and calls him a role model. This is a good idea since Johnson, along with Jon Jones, is at the forefront of the GOAT conversation in MMA. And the reason why the 125lbs GOAT got so upset is also pretty easy to understand.

Adesanya came into the Imavov fight having lost his last two fights. Most felt that if Adesanya lost to Imavov, that would mean that he was officially over the hill and not able to win at the highest level. And that is precisely what happened. Johnson is smart enough to have understood the implications of that loss and was thus really mad to see his good friend lose. But does Adesanya have no way back to the title? Let’s discuss.

Can Israel Adesanya become the middleweight champion again?

Since he is one of the UFC’s biggest stars, Israel Adesanya won’t have to do too much to get back into title contention. However, he will definitely have to fight and defeat at least a couple of top-ranked guys to get back into title contention, which is very doable for him. After all, he looked good in the first round against Imavov.

In fact, he was also looking pretty good in his UFC 305 clash against Dricus Du Plessis, until the South African managed to take him down in the fourth round and made him submit. Adesanya’s punch resistance does seem to be an issue, perhaps all the miles he has put on his body coming back to haunt him.

His age is also a big concern, especially after his latest loss. ‘Izzy’ turns 36 this year, and age does not treat his sharp and quick counter-punching style well. But then again, this is Israel Adesanya, one of the best to ever do it. If anyone can make a comeback and win the title again, it would be the Kiwi-Nigerian. What do you think about Israel Adesanya’s reaction to Demetrious Johnson melting down over his loss?