{"id":36723,"date":"2026-02-10T00:58:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T00:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Israel-Adesanya-Nearly-Accepted-ShortNotice-Bout-vs-Reinier-de-Ridder-Last-Year-200082"},"modified":"2026-02-10T00:58:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T00:58:35","slug":"israel-adesanya-nearly-accepted-short-notice-bout-vs-reinier-de-ridder-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/israel-adesanya-nearly-accepted-short-notice-bout-vs-reinier-de-ridder-last-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Adesanya Nearly Accepted Short-Notice Bout vs. Reinier de Ridder Last Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nIsrael Adesanya nearly fought twice in 2025. |
\nGetty\/UFC<\/b><\/p>\n


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If the stars had aligned, Israel
\nAdesanya<\/a> would have returned to the Octagon a little sooner
\nthan expected.<\/p>\n

The former middleweight champion will face Joe Pyfer<\/a> in
\nthe
\nUFC Seattle<\/a> headliner on March 28 at Climate Pledge Arena. \u201cThe
\nLast Stylebender\u201d hasn\u2019t been in action since suffering a
\nsecond-round technical knockout defeat against Nassourdine
\nImavov<\/a> at UFC
\nSaudi Arabia<\/a> last February.<\/p>\n

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Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

On his YouTube channel, Adesanya revealed that he had been ready to
\naccept a short-notice booking against Reinier
\nde Ridder<\/a> in October before an injury suffered in training
\nremoved him from consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was going to fight last year, but then I got injured in the gym,
\nand then that opportunity got taken away. It was a short-notice
\nfight, as well. And I\u2019ve never done one of those, so that would
\nhave been exciting,\u201d Adesanya said.<\/p>\n

De Ridder was scheduled to face fellow middleweight contender
\nAnthony
\nHernandez<\/a> in the UFC
\nVancouver<\/a> main event before \u201cFluffy\u201d withdrew from the event
\ndue to injury. Ultimately, it was Brendan
\nAllen<\/a>, not Adesanya, who stepped in to accept the assignment.
\nAllen would go on to earn a fourth-round stoppage victory against
\nthe former ONE
\nChampionship<\/a> two-division title holder.<\/p>\n

\u201cRDR. On five weeks\u2019 notice, six weeks\u2019 notice,\u201d Adesanya said. \u201cI
\nwas already training, so I was getting ready for a fight. So it
\nwould have been like, \u2018Right, I\u2019ve never done this before. You\u2019re
\nfit. Hop in there.\u2019 But then that moment got taken away from me.
\nBut that\u2019s, in hindsight, the best thing. Even though I wasn\u2019t
\nhappy with it then, it was the best thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Desire to Shine<\/h2>\n

Instead, Adesanya will look to right the ship against Pyfer, a
\n
\nDana White’s Contender Series<\/a> alum who has been victorious in
\nsix of his seven Octagon apperances. Though Adesdanya has lost four
\nof his last five fights, the passion to compete still burns strong
\nwithin the Nigerian-born Kiwi.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to shine,\u201d Adesanya said. \u201cThat\u2019s the thing, I always want
\nto shine. And I will shine. So, I can\u2019t wait. I know what I can do,
\nand I feel like people haven\u2019t seen my full array of skills yet. I
\njust want to show off a lot of skills that I haven\u2019t showed off
\nyet. So, in these fights, not that I\u2019m going to be looking for
\nthem, but you\u2019ll see. You\u2019ll see me do things I\u2019ve never done
\nbefore, because I feel like they\u2019ll be presented to me.\u201d<\/p>\n