Don’t expect Israel Adesanya to make the jump to boxing after he wraps up his MMA career.
A former kickboxer, Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) achieved immense success upon transitioning to MMA, which lead to five title defenses as UFC middleweight champion. He was dethroned by longtime rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281, before avenging his loss by knockout to reclaim the middleweight belt at UFC 287.
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Adesanya hasn’t won a fight since, but his accolades have already made him a shoe-in for the UFC Hall of Fame. His 2019 interim middleweight title fight against Kelvin Gastelum was inducted into the Fight Wing of the 2025 UFC Hall of Fame.
Many former UFC fighters such as Anderson Silva and Darren Till have found new life in the boxing, but Adesanya doesn’t plan on following suit.
“For me, my career is going to end in the UFC, I believe. But never say never,” Adesanya said in a Q&A at Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA. “I thought about this two months ago, and I always said like, nah, you’d never catch me. This is the ultimate form of fighting, which is mixed martial arts. You are using all your limbs, all your weapons. How can I now, as one of the guys in this game who’s been up there, say, ‘Oh, I’m just going to go box?’
“I always said no because I felt like my legacy is already set in stone. But everyone has a number, and I think I got to my number two months ago. I was like, you know what? It’s really high. I don’t think anyone – maybe Turki (Alalshikh) can afford it, but nah, I think Darren is just doing his thing outside the UFC so, I’m just going to finish my career at the top in the UFC.”
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Adesanya hasn’t competed since a TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Fight Night 250 in February, his third loss in a row. In the same Q&A, “The Stylebender” revealed that he’s no longer chasing the belt.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Israel Adesanya not interested in boxing career after the UFC
