Israel Adesanya Regrets Not Listening to Dana White’s Advice Before Controversial Fight

UFC CEO Dana White almost changed the career trajectory of former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Israel Adesanya Regrets Not Listening to Dana White’s Advice Before Controversial Fight

Dana White almost prevented Israel Adesanya's unfortunate UFC 293 title fight (Image via CBS Sports/X)

2023 was a life-changing year for Israel Adesanya. The end of 2022 saw him lose to Alex Pereira via TKO in MSG. April of 2023 was his chance to defeat ‘Poatan’ and reclaim his middleweight title. ‘The Last Stylebender’ knocked out Pereira in devastating fashion to finally earn a win over his decorated rival. At that time, everyone thought Adesanya looked unbeatable. However, they were wrong.

By September of 2023, Sean Strickland replaced Dricus Du Plessis to fight Adesanya in the main event of UFC 293. Stylebender was a heavy betting favorite against Strickland, but lost a lopsided decision. For the first time in his career, Adesanya looked flat and out of rhythm. The high guard of the American prevented Izzy from landing any devastating strikes at UFC 293.

After five rounds, ‘Tarzan’ emerged victorious and created a stunning upset of a legendary champion. It was also the downfall of Izzy’s career, having lost two more fights after that without a single victory. Recently, Adesanya visited Sean O’Malley in the US, and conversed in a podcast episode.

During the episode, Izzy revealed the conversations he had with Dana White on possibly not fighting on the UFC 293 card.

I was like, ‘No, I have to fight in Sydney, I haven’t fought on this side of the world and so long.’ And then Dana was like, ‘Listen, kid, you got enough money. Just chill out for a while.’ I was like, ‘No.’ I was all stubborn, and in hindsight, I’m like, ‘Maybe, Dana was right.’ But again, look, I love these stories. This is how it’s supposed to happen.

At that time, the world was finally recovering from COVID-19 lockdowns. As such, the UFC didn’t go to Australia on a regular basis. This led to Adesanya not defending his title closer to his home in New Zealand. This is one of the reasons why Izzy chose to fight on UFC 293 PPV card despite losing title challenger Dricus Du Plessis to a foot injury.

Ultimately, Strickland took the fight on short-notice and delivered the upset of the year. The history that everyone knows would have turned out differently if Izzy took White’s advise seriously. However, MMA is the game of inches, and there is no second chances to write a wrong. One has to live with the decisions that they make in MMA.

Israel Adesanya once analyzed his UFC 293 performance against Sean Strickland

In September of 2023, only Alex Pereira thought that Sean Strickland had the skills to dethrone Israel Adesanya. At that time, many people thought that Strickland would lose because he lost to Pereira via KO. Using that logic, Strickland would lose to the guy that knocked out Poatan.

Sean Strickland to potentially fight Israel Adesanya next
Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya after their fight (via MMA Fighting)

From the get go, Strickland pressured with his body kicks and jabs. Usually, Izzy likes fighters to chase him. This way, he gets to surprise them with counter-striking that could result in knockouts. This is exactly what he did to fighters like Pereira and Robert Whittaker in the past. However, Strickland’s boxing defense is among the best.

Adesanya could not tag Strickland at range or counter throughout the 25 minutes of action. The American trash-talker landed a perfect 1-2 strike in the first round to drop Adesanya, and it all went downhill from there. The Last Stylebender did dish out praise for the American’s striking technique.

Fast-forward to 2025, both no longer hold the middleweight title around their waist. It belongs to Du Plessis, who bested both of them. Adesanya has spoken about wanting to rematch Strickland next. Meanwhile, ‘Tarzan’ is still healing after his embarrassing UFC 312 title loss this year.

A rematch between the duo remains a big fight. Most fans want to see what would happen in a rematch. However, the decision will rest on the hands of Dana White regarding the next UFC booking of Adesanya and Strickland.

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