Former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has explained the reasoning behind his decision to take on Joe Pyfer on his return to the UFC.
The bout with Pyfer will take place in Seattle, Washington on 28 March and will be the main event at Climate Pledge Arena.
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The 36-year-old Adesanya made an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on Wednesday, to tell the Canadian journalist why he wanted to fight Pyfer following his year-long hiatus – and amid a three-fight losing streak.
He said: “[The Pyfer fight] is just what I need to come back to – a dangerous opponent they’re trying to feed me to.”
When Helwani asked if the UFC is trying to build up Pyfer’s success off of the Nigerian-New Zealand fighter’s vulnerabilities, due to the latter’s inactivity in the cage, Adesanya replied: “This is a game. This is what happens.
“I’ve watched this game for years. I know how they try – sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail – but that’s just the nature of the beast.”
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“The Last Stylebender” hasn’t fought in the UFC since Nassourdine Imavov knocked him out in round two of their fight back in February, his third consecutive loss. Adesanya’s previous two outings were title-fight defeats by Dricus Du Plessis in 2024 and Sean Strickland in 2023.
Still, Adesanya currently sits at sixth in the UFC’s middleweight rankings, while Pyfer is placed at 15th. But while Adesanya’s legacy far eclipses Pyfer’s, “Bodybagz” has the better form going into UFC Seattle.
Israel Adesanya is a former two-time UFC middleweight champion (Getty Images)
Joe Pyfer’s most-recent win was a submission of Abus Magomedov in October (Getty Images)
Adesanya has lost four of his last five fights, with the former pound-for-pound star’s last triumph coming against old foe Alex Pereira in 2023. Meanwhile, Pyfer is on a three-fight win streak, including two finishes, since he suffered the first loss of his UFC run in early 2024.
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Furthermore, the American boasts a high stoppage ratio, with 13 of his 15 career wins coming via finish. Although the 29-year-old is known as a knockout artist, his last outing ended as a submission victory over Abus Magomedov in October.
