With the back-to-back defeats, Israel Adesanya has claimed that he will be taking his career slow and steady now instead of rushing things, “Even though I don’t have the belt, they still got my name in their mouth. At the moment, I want to fight one more time before the end of this year or early next year but I don’t know yet.” However, will the other fighters in the division agree to it? Certainly not.

UFC middleweight prospect and #4th ranked middleweight fighter, Nassourdine Imavov appeared to have called out the former two-time middleweight champ for a fight. Israel Adesanya recently appeared as a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast and during the conversation, ‘Stylebender’ made a comment on Imavov, “There have already been a few callouts here and there. The guy who just won in France—Imavov—said something, and I thought it would be a good fight; it would be fun. But again, what has he done? He beat Brendan Allen.”

This statement by the Kiwi fighter has been taken into cognizance by the French fighter, who is riding a three-fight winning streak. Taking to his X handle, Imavov gave a thumbs up to Adesanya before challenging him to a fight, “Much respect for not hiding @stylebender! @ufc@mickmaynard2knows my answer! Let’s have some fun!”  ‘Sniper’ last victory against Brendan Allen broke his seven-fight winning streak.

After losing the mi͏ddle͏we͏ight be͏lt to Se͏an͏ Strickland at͏ U͏FC 297, Israel Adesanya’s career has been on a d͏ownward ͏spiral.͏ The two-time middleweight champion took a br͏eak following his defeat to ͏t͏h͏e Americ͏an. Up͏on his return, he faced Dricus D͏u ͏Plessi͏s for the title bu͏t failed to b͏ecome͏ a th͏ree-time champ͏ion, as the ͏South Africa͏n ͏submi͏tted ‘Th͏e͏ Last Stylebender͏’ i͏n the fourth round ͏to s͏uccessfully defend his t͏itle.͏ Wit͏h͏ b͏ack͏-to-back ͏defeats, Adesanya is now ta͏king tim͏e off from his career again,͏ ͏but tha͏t ͏hasn’t stopp͏ed other fighters͏ fr͏om c͏alling him out.

Dana White and the UFC matchmakers need to plan Adesanya’s future carefully. Pushing him into title fights despite losing three title bouts in his last four appearances will not appease fans. So it’s time for ‘contender Izzy’ to take the spotlight against a top-tier willing challenger. But Nassourdine Imavov is not the only fighter who is looking at the top brass of the middleweight division. With hungry eyes, another fighter is setting his sights on Adesanya as well as Dricus Du Plessis.

UFC Vegas 99 winner calls out both Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya

After stunning the MMA world by defeating Michel Pereira at UFC Vegas 99, Anthony Hernandez went all out when he challenged both Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya to a fight. At the post-fight press conference, the fighter was asked by the reporters about his next matchup, and to everyone’s surprise, ‘Fluffy’ stated that he would really like to fight against Du Plessis considering the fact that he has the same pace as him.

No. I mean, it would be a great fight realistically, but who I see that mixes very well is Du Plessis. He mixes it very f—ing well, and that’s why he is champion right now. That’s what I mean — he is a tough motherf—er, and he goes. He looks like he is gassed, but he keeps pushing. Um, I would love to fight him. I will just keep climbing the ladder to get to him, and just, good job to him. Keep up the great work,” said Anthony Herandez.

When the reporters asked whether he would like to face Israel Adesanya in the coming future ‘Fluffy’ emphasized that he didn’t care and he would fight anyone. With two fighters wanting to fight the former two-time UFC champion, who do you think will get the chance? State your thoughts in the comments below.