After dropping the middleweight belt for a second time, failing to reclaim it, and then getting knocked out in the first round, things haven’t really been on the ideal track for Israel Adesanya. For the first time, the Nigerian-born Kiwi star is on a losing streak in his UFC run, and his coach, Eugene Bareman, expressed a bit of uncertainty surrounding ‘The Last Stylebender’s fighting career. “If he was going to fight again, then he’s going to fight again. If he’s not, then we’ve been blessed,” Adesanya’s coach stated earlier this month.  But it seems like the gear has shifted.

How? Well, while there have been talks about who Adesanya could fight next, Bareman recently mentioned that he hasn’t had much talk with the former 2-time UFC champion in recent times since he’s on a break. However, the City Kickboxing head coach did reveal that the last time he had a chat with Adesanya was during last weekend’s UFC 314, where ‘Izzy’s teammate Alexander Volkanovski reclaimed the 145lbs title. According to his coach, the 35-year-old was looking to make his way back inside the Octagon.

“Israel’s taking a break, mate. Like, he’s in America. The one brief conversation that he had with in the changing room with ‘Volk’s sitting. He said, ‘Look, man, I think I’m gonna fight again.” Eugene Bareman recently told Submission Radio. While the CKB coach didn’t mention what led to the assertion from the ex-champion, we can assume that his teammate may have played a part in his decision. After all, Volkanovski also had a 2-fight losing streak, and that too, via knockouts. But his thirst to get back the title might have fueled Adesanya’s need to make his comeback as well.

“Those are the conversations we’re having. Like, ‘Yeah, I wanna fight again… I think I’m ready to fight again.’ So, we start talking about opponents and saying this and that,” Israel Adesanya’s coach added. “Whether he feels like he should or he has the feeling that he wants to, you know. Whether he has the hunger inside. That’s the conversation we’re having.”

“He knows the kind of commitment and dedication that he needs to be in the sport. And we just had one of our best friends, a guy who’s the same age as Izzy, might even be older, win the (featherweight) championship of the world. And we both know from firsthand experience how hard that man works.” 

Adesanya’s coach didn’t mention having any opponent in mind at the moment, but their conversation does include going through a list of potential opponents, even if it’s undecided. But in the end, it’s all about how much ‘The Last Stylebender’ wants it, and everything will become clear when he returns from his hiatus from fighting.

Eugene Bareman is not forcing a return from Adesanya, and he will make his return on his time. But due to the uncertain nature of his status as a fighter, has his coach given up on him? Well, Adesanya’s coach appears to have full faith in his star UFC fighter that he will indeed come back to fight again.

City Kickboxing coach is confident that Israel Adesanya will find his way back inside the Octagon

Much like Conor McGregor, Israel Adesanya is also one of the biggest draws the UFC has ever seen. At a time when neither the Irishman nor Jon Jones was there to take charge of the UFC, ‘Izzy’ appeared to become a sort of the poster boy of the company during his time at the top. But now that he’s in his late 30s and has lost a few fights, he might just decide to hang up his gloves, but Bareman isn’t convinced Adesanya’s done yet because he still has the ‘fighter’ in him.

“I think he’s going to fight, I think he’s going to find it in his soul that he wants to fight. He’s a fighter, mate,” Israel Adesanya’s coach further added during the aforementioned interview. “Like, he’s going to find it in his soul that all this s–t like traveling around to America and podcasting and this and hanging out with this, he’s going to realize mate nothing fills his cup, nothing fills his soul like fighting. I think at heart he’s a fighter and he’ll find, you know, he’ll be like ‘No I’m going for it.'”

Well, we can’t be too certain about what’s next for Israel Adesanya, but most people will agree that he’s still got a few more years to compete at the highest level. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.