{"id":42443,"date":"2026-02-10T05:55:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T10:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/10\/israel-adesanya-shares-exciting-retirement-update-the-finish-line-is-finally-within-reach\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T05:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T10:55:23","slug":"israel-adesanya-shares-exciting-retirement-update-the-finish-line-is-finally-within-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/10\/israel-adesanya-shares-exciting-retirement-update-the-finish-line-is-finally-within-reach\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Adesanya Shares Exciting Retirement Update: \u2018The Finish Line Is Finally Within Reach\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/10\/israel-adesanya-shares-exciting-retirement-update-the-finish-line-is-finally-within-reach\/#Israel_Adesanyas_Retirement_Timeline\" >Israel Adesanya\u2019s Retirement Timeline<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/10\/israel-adesanya-shares-exciting-retirement-update-the-finish-line-is-finally-within-reach\/#Setback_in_Adesanyas_Planned_Comeback\" >Setback in Adesanya\u2019s Planned Comeback<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>Israel Adesanya is fully aware that his time in martial arts is drawing to a close. The former two-time UFC middleweight champion seems to have passed his prime and is currently enduring a three-fight losing streak heading into his upcoming bout at UFC Seattle on March 28th. While a defeat to Joe Pifer would be a setback, it wouldn&#8217;t necessarily signal the end of Adesanya&#8217;s career.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Israel_Adesanyas_Retirement_Timeline\"><\/span>Israel Adesanya\u2019s Retirement Timeline<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Adesanya has shared that fans can expect to see him compete roughly 10 more times before he steps away from the sport. At 36 years old, this means he\u2019ll need to maintain a busy schedule over the next few years. \u201cIt\u2019s less than 10 fights left,\u201d Adesanya explained on his YouTube channel. \u201cIf I fight now, I\u2019ll probably have one more bout by year-end, which makes two fights. If I continue with two fights per year, I can still be active next year. I\u2019m not sure what 2028 holds \u2013 I can\u2019t see past 2027 yet. It\u2019s clear the finish line is much closer now than it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Setback_in_Adesanyas_Planned_Comeback\"><\/span>Setback in Adesanya\u2019s Planned Comeback<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Adesanya\u2019s last fight was a shocking knockout loss to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia in February 2025. He recently disclosed that his originally planned early return fight didn\u2019t happen due to an injury sustained in training. \u201cI was set to fight last year, but I got injured in the gym, which took that opportunity away,\u201d he noted. The bout he was preparing for was against Reinier de Ridder with only five to six weeks\u2019 notice. Although he didn\u2019t specify the date, it appears he intended to step in for Anthony Hernandez in the UFC Vancouver main event against De Ridder last October. Reflecting on it, Adesanya said, \u201cThat moment was taken away from me. At the time I felt disappointed, but now I see it was for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fan Take:<\/strong> This update is crucial for fight fans because it highlights the reality of a legendary fighter nearing the end of his career while still aiming to compete at a high level. Adesanya\u2019s path forward could influence the middleweight division\u2019s future dynamics and inspire conversations about how champions transition out of the sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israel Adesanya is fully aware that his time in martial arts is drawing to a close. The former two-time UFC middleweight champion seems to have passed his prime and is currently enduring a three-fight losing streak heading into his upcoming bout at UFC Seattle on March 28th. While a defeat to Joe Pifer would be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2443],"tags":[2444],"class_list":{"0":"post-42443","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fighting","8":"tag-fighting"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}