{"id":37503,"date":"2026-03-31T14:55:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Aljamain-Sterling-believes-Israel-Adesanyas-reflexes-have-slowed-down-200672"},"modified":"2026-03-31T14:55:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:55:55","slug":"aljamain-sterling-believes-israel-adesanyas-reflexes-have-slowed-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/aljamain-sterling-believes-israel-adesanyas-reflexes-have-slowed-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Aljamain Sterling believes Israel Adesanya\u2019s reflexes have slowed down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Aljamain
\nSterling<\/a> doesn\u2019t think Israel
\nAdesanya<\/a> is the same fighter he once was. <\/p>\n

Adesanya (24-6) took on Joe Pyfer<\/a> in
\nthe main event at
\nUFC Seattle<\/a> on Saturday. \u201cThe Last Stylebender\u201d briefly looked
\nhis old self, chopping away at Pyfer\u2019s lead leg and maintaining
\ndistance with his jab. Adesanya\u2019s shots even seemingly started
\naffecting Pyfer in the second round until things drastically turned
\naround. Pyfer hurt Adesanya, took him down, flattened him out, and
\nunleashed vicious ground-and-pound to secure a stoppage
\nwin. <\/p>\n

Sterling believes Adesanya is not the same as he was when on a
\nstellar run, defending the middleweight title five times.
\n\u201cFunkmaster\u201d primarily noticed Adesanya\u2019s reaction time slowing
\ndown compared to his older self. Sterling notes that Adesanya
\nsuddenly chose to stand and trade with Pyfer in the second round
\ninstead of being his usual elusive self. Sterling believes Adesanya
\ncould have won if he controlled the range for five rounds instead
\nof engaging in the pocket.<\/p>\n

A Switch in Strategy<\/h2>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a couple of things about Izzy that has
\nchanged,\u201d Sterling said on YouTube<\/a>. \u201cOne of those, I think is the main thing that
\nsticks out to me is the reflexes. I just don\u2019t think his reaction
\ntime is quite the same as it used to be as sharp\u2026 I thought if he
\nkept it at range, which he was doing really well in the first
\nround, I thought he could have honestly done that for five\u2026For some
\nreason, he decided to switch and stand in there and trade with him
\na little bit… exactly where Pyfer needed him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adesanya\u2019s career has been on a steady decline since his iconic
\ntitle win in his rematch with Alex
\nPereira<\/a> in 2022. The 36-year-old has since lost four straight
\noutings, the last three via stoppage. <\/p>\n