Israel Adesanya is using retired US Navy SEAL David Goggins to aid his UFC return.
The former UFC middleweight champion trained with American ultramarathon runner and motivational speaker Goggins before he was then spotted on WWE cameras.
Along with his boss and UFC CEO Dana White, Adesanya was among a star-studded celebrity cast to appear on night one of WrestleMania 41 for wrestling’s biggest event of the year.
The Las Vegas card witnessed a dramatic main event as Seth Rollins prevailed over fellow WWE legends Roman Reigns and CM Punk in a triple threat match.
Adesanya was potentially eyeing up what was to come for his future combat sports career, as the 35-year-old Nigerian-born New Zealander has previously admitted he would be open to appearing in the WWE having been a long-term fan of the organisation.
Nonetheless, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has a big decision to make in terms of his MMA career for now.
He has suffered three consecutive defeats in White’s promotion, with his most recent to Nassourdine Imavov in February in what was Adesanya’s first ever non-title fight UFC defeat.
Albeit his losses have come to top tier opponents like Dricus Du Plessis and Alex Pereira, but several MMA fans have said they struggle to see Adesanya getting back to his very best.
He won gold for the first time by defeating Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October 2019 and went on to defend the title an incredible five times after.
He dropped the belt to Pereira in November 2022 before knocking out the Brazilian in devastating fashion five months later in what his last win to date.
Using Goggins for training tips may provide Adesanya some much-needed longevity for his future UFC career, but fans were quick to point out one elephant in the room before his WWE appearance.
One took to X and wrote: “This camp’s about to be something different. Locked in.”
While another added: “I’d die training with Goggins, but I’d be so honoured to go that way.”
But there was a general consensus between most fans, as one said: “Ask Tony Ferguson how that worked out for him.”
Goggins was one of Ferguson’s main training partners for his fight with Liverpudlian Paddy Pimblett at UFC 296 in December 2023.
Although ‘El Cucuy’ went the distance with the Englishman, he was dominated for three rounds and suffered his seventh consecutive defeat in the process.
Adesanya also raised questions from fans when he was seen sparring with ex-UFC rival Whittaker ahead of his last fight.
Their blockbuster fight headlined UFC 243 in Australia, as both New Zealand representatives threw down in an all-Oceanic region title fight.
Whittaker was born and raised in New Zealand but fights out of Australia, while Nigeria native Adesanya moved to the South Pacific islands when he was young.
The event holds the record for the most attended UFC card in the organisation’s history as over 57,000 fans packed into the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
Adesanya’s coach, Eugene Bareman, had revealed that he was doing things ‘quite differently’ ahead of the former two-time middleweight champion’s next fight, but it was evident that training with Whittaker didn’t have much benefit.
Adesanya’s defeat to Imavov was probably the toughest to take out of his five UFC defeats since his 2018 debut.
He is the No.4-ranked middleweight behind the Frenchman, who is up there with Strickland and Chimaev.
Chimaev is next in line for a shot at current champion Dricus Du Plessis’ 185lb belt.
However, reports have emerged this week that suggest the South African has picked up an injury, therefore, Chimaev will have to wait for his first shot at UFC gold.
Adesanya could find himself up against someone like No.7 Jared Cannonier or No.8 Roman Dolidze next, depending on who those around him are matched up against.
