The fighting future of former two-time middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya became more clear when his coach, Eugene Bareman revealed that “The Last Stylebender” plans to fight again.
Adesanya has lost three fights in a row, albeit against the top fighters in the 185-pound division. But at 35, “The Last Stylebender” could have walked away with a Hall of Fame resume. Instead, he’s planning his next fight.
“The one brief conversation that he had with me in the changing room at Volk’s, he said, ‘Look, man, I think I’m going to fight again.’ So like, you know, we’re talking about, those are the conversations we’re having. Like, ‘Yeah, I want to fight again. I want to fight again. I think I’m ready to fight again,'” Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman told Submission Radio.
Adesanya was in attendance at UFC 314 and witnessed Alexander Volkanovksi regain the featherweight championship at age 36. Bareman believes Adesanya understands the commitment he has to make to do the same.
“I’m being patient. Like, I mean, I’m cool with what Izzy does. Like, Izzy’s done everything he needs to do in the sport. Went to the highest level. You know, but the reality is, he’s lost three of his last four,” Bareman said.
“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.”
Related: Alexander Volkanovski planning two more fights this year
To Bareman, age is just a number, and 35 isn’t that old. Work ethic drives success in his opinion.
“You know, age isn’t age and is not going to matter to a guy when you work like that, mate. That’s the hardest best. I’m not privy to everybody’s camp and everybody’s work ethic, but that’s the hardest worker in the sport (Volkanovski). Age is not going to matter, mate,” Bareman said.
“I couldn’t believe how many people that I was hearing were writing Volk off. And so we we have a very close friend of us, friend of ours, and we look at his work ethic and that’s the example. That’s the bar. That’s where we got to go. And as he knows that’s where he’s got to go. And that’s a heavy, heavy commitment to dedicate yourself as much as Volk does. It’s a heavy, heavy commitment for any fighter in their prime, let alone one that’s in the twilight of their career.”
