Israel Adesanya dropped his fourth loss in a row at UFC Seattle, but Dana White thinks there is some fight left in “The Last Stylebender.”
Adesanya found success in the opening frame. He was effective in keeping his range, but once Pyfer closed the distance, it was the beginning of the end. Adesanya decided to trade with Pyfer and it led to him getting peppered on the feet.
In the second stanza, Pyfer took Adesanya down to the canvas and unloaded with ground strikes to score the TKO finish. During the UFC Seattle post-fight press conference, White didn’t downplay Adesanya’s efforts (via MMAJunkie).
“He looked good. He looked good,” White said. “He looked fast, using angles. Yeah, I thought he looked great.”
After the defeat inside Climate Pledge Arena, Adesanya told Daniel Cormier that he has no plans of walking away from prizefighting. “The Last Stylebender” said he will not be broken and will continue to compete.
As far as Pyfer goes, White believes “Bodybagz” did wonders for his stock by extending his winning streak to four.
“We started looking at all the performances tonight, for Pyfer to come in at No. 14, and beat Israel Adesanya, one of the best middleweights ever, and the No. 4-ranked guy,” White said at the UFC Fight Night 271 post-fight press conference. “It’s pretty impressive – and to finish him.”
Pyfer will have a significant leap on the official UFC middleweight rankings, and White said it opens up new possibilities for the 29-year-old.
“It’s huge,” White said. “And more importantly, you know, Joe Pyfer’s story, and now the guy’s ranked in the top five in the UFC, which is very, very tough to do.”
Do you think Israel Adesanya should stick to his word and continue fighting or would he be better served hanging it up? Sound off in the comments below.