{"id":37399,"date":"2026-03-25T15:28:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T15:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Israel-Adesanya-Middleweight-division-slow-and-stuck-without-me-200592"},"modified":"2026-03-25T15:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T15:28:45","slug":"israel-adesanya-middleweight-division-slow-and-stuck-without-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/israel-adesanya-middleweight-division-slow-and-stuck-without-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Adesanya: Middleweight division \u2018slow and stuck without me\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Israel
\nAdesanya<\/a> says he was the last active
\nUFC<\/a> middleweight champion. <\/p>\n

Adesanya notes that the current middleweight champion, Khamzat
\nChimaev<\/a>, once fought twice within 10 days early in his UFC
\ncareer. However, Chimaev won the title in August 2025 and will now
\ndefend it against Sean
\nStrickland<\/a> at UFC 328<\/a>
\non May 9. Adesanya sees the division slowing down without him as
\nthe champion.<\/p>\n

The Last Active Champion<\/h2>\n

\u201cLook at the middleweight division now \u2014 Khamzat was a very active
\nguy coming up, smoking everybody, fighting multiple times, I think
\ntwice in a month, even at one point,\u201d Adesanya told ESPN<\/a>. \u201cAnd now that he\u2019s champion, I\u2019m sure
\nwhat the deal is \u2013 is it visa issues? Is it injuries? I\u2019m not sure\u2026
\nThe last active champion was me. The last guy who put it all on the
\nline regardless, every time calling out the best, was me. So that\u2019s
\none thing that I would say people didn\u2019t appreciate, even I didn\u2019t
\nappreciate. Now that I\u2019m here watching it, I\u2019m like, damn, this
\ngame is just slow and stuck without me.\u201d <\/p>\n

Adesanya (24-5) won the middleweight title in 2019 and defended it
\nfive times before losing to Alex
\nPereira<\/a> in 2022, also squeezing in a failed light heavyweight
\ntitle bid. Adesanya reclaimed his title in the rematch against
\nPereira but failed to defend it against Sean
\nStrickland<\/a>. \u201cThe Last Stylebender\u201d has since lost two more,
\nputting him on a three-fight slump. Adesanya is now scheduled to
\nheadline
\nUFC Seattle<\/a> this weekend against Joe Pyfer<\/a>
\n(15-3). There have been four middleweight title fights overall
\nsince Adesanya lost the title to Strickland in September
\n2023. <\/p>\n