Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya knows the end of his fighting career is near.
Adesanya admitted he’s been starting to think about retirement now that he’s in his post-title chapter of his career. Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC), who returns against Joe Pyfer (15-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 271 on March 28, can’t exactly pinpoint how much he has left. For now, he can see himself fighting for the next two years but isn’t sure what could come after that.
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“Less than 10,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel when talking about how many fights he has left. “… Who knows? I know it’s less than 10. It can’t be more than 10. So if I fight now, I fight one more time towards the end of the year, maybe. That’s two fights. If I do two fights a year, next year I can still fight. 2028 is going to be like, I don’t know yet. I can’t see past 2027. I don’t know. I don’t think that far ahead at the moment. I do glance at it, and I just know I’m on the tail end. I can see the finish line. I’ve been seeing the finish line in the distance, but now it’s closer.”
Adesanya, 36, is currently on a three-fight losing streak and 1-4 in his past five outings dating back to 2022. Prior to this skid, Adesanya held the UFC middleweight title from 2019 to 2022, in which he defended the belt five times.
“The Last Stylebender” made it clear he won’t be like many fighters who retire and eventually return to the sport. If he retires from MMA, there’s no coming back.
Adesanya recently launched his career as a disc jockey, making his debut at AfroSoul Festival in New Zealand in late 2025. Once he retires, he intends to focus on being a DJ, and perhaps even acting.
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“Like I said, there’s more to life than just fighting,” Adesanya said. “I can just be a DJ. That was four months of work, and I killed that sh*t. If I do this every day, like i do camps, f*ck. I don’t just DJ. I perform. I put on a show. It’s not the same. We also have Hollywood knocking at the door. But I rather go to EA, Activision, all these video game companies and do games.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Israel Adesanya ‘can see the finish line’ of UFC career
