Former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya suffered his fourth consecutive loss last weekend. “The Last Stylebender” faced Joe Pyfer in the UFC Seattle main event and was finished in the second round.
Adesanya will turn 37 in July. Considering what he’s accomplished and his recent results, some are calling for him to hang up the gloves including MMA great Demetrious Johnson.
“For me, he’s been a middleweight champion. He’s defended the belt multiple times. He has plenty of money. He’s so talented. He can dance. He’s a DJ. Anything he does, he’s going to be successful,” Johnson told The Ariel Helwani Show.
“So for me, I feel like what made me so in fighting was one, I viewed it was a job. Two, I needed f*cking money, right? When you’re poor and you’re broke, you have a different mindset. When I was cutting weight and I had to cut eight and a half pounds … I was like, I’m not f*cking giving not a dime away to the commission, or my opponent. I’m going to make f*cking weight. There’s a different mindset that goes on when you ain’t got money,” continued Johnson.
“I’m not saying that now that he has money the mindset has changed but he’s fighting somebody else who’s trying to get to his level. So for me, I’m just like you’ve done everything. Just walk away from the sport. But I think that’s so hard for mixed martial artists or any professional athlete. And I think for me, when I see him fight, I’m like, ‘God, you don’t need to f*cking fight.”
When asked directly if he thinks Adesanya should retire, Johnson responded, “I would if I was him. I would.”
“I would like to see him retire. There’s nothing else for him to do in mixed martial arts. I think he’s done everything … I think he deserves to relax and enjoy himself and find something else.”