Israel Adesanya couldn’t contain his laughter after his friend offered a brutal assessment of his last fight.
Adesanya was shockingly knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov in his last UFC appearance at the beginning of February.
The defeat marked his third in as many fights since he lost the UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland in September 2023.
His second consecutive loss nearly one year later to Dricus Du Plessis then resulted in his demotion to fighting on a non-pay-per-view card for the first time since 2018.
The 35-year-old spent some time over the weekend with a friend, who offered a scathing review of his recent performances.
“Washed. Retire. Loser,” Adesanya’s friend said when asked to describe his last fight in three words.
The former champion then absolutely lost it and couldn’t contain his laughter in response to the criticism.
Some MMA fans were worried Adesanya’s friend was a little too honest with him.
One user even commented on the video, saying: “Izzy is handling it pretty well all things considered.”
But the UFC star quickly put those worries to rest with a follow-up post on Instagram.
“People think I actually give a f***,” Adesanya wrote. “If only they knew my friends haha!”
‘The Last Stylebender’ ruled the 185-pound division for four years between 2019 and 2023.
However, his recent performances have been a stark contrast to his past success, and now he’s found himself in a tricky spot.
Adesanya’s last UFC victory came in his rematch with Alex Pereira at UFC 287 in April 2023, when he knocked out the Brazilian to reclaim his belt.
But several MMA fans are worried the Nigerian-born New Zealander may be past his best days as a fighter, with his future right now uncertain.
Earlier this month, Adesanya shared a wholesome moment with UFC referee Marc Goddard, who controversially stopped his first title fight with Pereira in November 2022.
He had just watched his former enemies du Plessis and Strickland battle it out at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia, where he met Goddard backstage.
Adesanya and Pereira met in Dana White’s promotion for the first time at UFC 281, having fought each other twice in kickboxing.
‘The Last Stylebender’ was winning on the judges’ scorecards going into the fifth and final round, before Pereira made a stunning comeback to finish the champion.
Referee Marc Goddard stepped in to stop the fight as the champion was backed up to the cage on the receiving end of a flurry of punches.
Goddard was also the referee in Adesanya’s defeat to Imavov earlier this month.
“Nice to see you away from the cage,” Adesanya said, before Goddard replied: “I’m f***ing sorry man.”
“Don’t be,” Adesanya countered as he talked about the fight stoppages Goddard had to deal with.
“Hey, I’ll tell you one thing. The one in New York [the first Pereira fight] I was like eh, but this was good,” he added.
“I wasn’t there. I was moving but it was all instinct.”
“I know mate,” Goddard responded. “I said it all the time, I don’t want to stop any fights.”
Adesanya is now the fourth-ranked UFC middleweight with Khamzat Chimaev, Strickland, Imavov and the champion du Plessis above him.
Du Plessis is set to defended his title next against Chimaev, while Imavov as the number one contender could face someone like Strickland.
