UFC 300: Israel Adesanya’s Return Gets Scrutinized as BMF Champ Justin Gaethje Highlights Potential Middleweight Title Bout- “That Was a Ploy”

Published 02/09/2024, 12:44 PM EST

The UFC rumor mill is running high on Israel Adesanya being all set to make his grand comeback. UFC 300 is overhead and boss Dana White is yet to give us the anticipated announcement that he promised over a week ago. Now, the insiders are speculating a return of ‘The Last Stylebender’ and they could just be right on the money this time.

UFC 300 is a packed card already. One of the biggest fights on the card is none other than Justin Gaethje going up against Max Holloway for the ‘Baddest Motherf*cker’ belt. Two of the most legendary strikers in the game and The Schmo had the chance to interview one. What did Gaethje say about the potential main event?

Is Israel Adesanya coming to claim back his crown?

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Israel Adesanya lost his belt to Sean Strickland and decided to step away from the cage for a good long time. Now, it has been months, and clips of ‘Izzy’ back in training have started surfacing. It only stands to reason to speculate him coming back but the comeback has to be massive.

Many have already eliminated Conor McGregor as the one who will headline UFC 300. Adesanya going up against Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight belt is a great dream but let’s face it, ‘Stillknocks’ only recently fought a brutal war against ‘Tarzan’ and recovery takes longer than a few months. Here’s what Gaethje said when The Schmo asked him about Adesanya’s comeback.

“I think it’s an option I don’t know, that’s what I mean I think Adesanya-Du Plessis is an option,” he said. “. . . Yeah I mean if he’s going to fight (Pereira at LHW) who knows you know, who knows, he said he wasn’t going to fight for a long time who knows if he’s been training the whole time if that was a ploy and this works that’ll be another capstone on his awesome story”

For Gaethje, both are great fights and his sentiment echoes in the minds of every UFC fan. Realistically, Alex Pereira fighting Israel Adesasnya seems much more feasible than him going up against Du Plessis. Unless of course, someone pumps up the South African champ with a super soldier serum and he comes back within a matter of months to take on Israel Adesanya. Meanwhile, Izzy isn’t the only one on Pereira’s radar, and perhaps he has been eyeing another fighter for months now.

Will Alex Pereira transition to heavyweight next?

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Alex Pereira’s storyline with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has been rather consistent. The two teased the potential fight months ago and it looked like both of them were interested too, leaving Jon Jones’ title at risk of being competed for. There are, of course, also those who speculate Jones actually making a comeback.

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The heavyweight legend of the MMA world dropped out of his last fight against Stipe Miocic because of a torn pectoral muscle. Jones, just like Israel Adesanya has been out of action for a long time. It looks like a weird time for the promotion with multiple big names being out of action at the same time. \

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Will one of them make a grand return at the biggest pay-per-view of the year so far? Who would you put your money on? Let us know in the comments.

Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus Du Plessis: UFC 300 Main Event Insider Scoop Claims the Final Chapter to Real African Clash Set in Place

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Written by:

I'm Prit Chauhan, and I'm a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. I've been in the writing business for three years, covering areas like mass media marketing, and even tried my hand at fiction. My experience includes research work at the University of California, Berkeley, which helps me spin fact-based stories about the world of Mixed Martial Arts effortlessly.

Edited by:

Joyita Das

UFC 300: Israel Adesanya’s Return Gets Scrutinized as BMF Champ Justin Gaethje Highlights Potential Middleweight Title Bout- “That Was a Ploy”

Is Israel Adesanya coming to claim back his crown?

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Will Alex Pereira transition to heavyweight next?