By Daily Sports Nigeria on January 26, 2024

Mixed martial arts fans have reacted positively to training footage posted by former middleweight champion, Isreal Adesanya, ahead of a potential return to the UFC, The PUNCH reports.

Adesanya’s most recent fight had him lose his UFC middleweight title in September 2023, owing to a unanimous decision defeat against Sean Strickland. Following that, ‘The Last Stylebender’ put forth an announcement wherein he suggested that he’s taking a long hiatus from MMA competition and may not return to the octagon till 2027.

Nevertheless, he subsequently clarified that his assertion was misconstrued and that his highly-anticipated comeback could materialise sooner than initially expected.

Earlier this month, Adesanya provided an insight into his comeback status during an interview with CombatTV.

The 34-year-old explained that he was still recovering from injury and would resume full-fledged training at the end of February. While Adesanya didn’t provide details on an exact return date or opponent, the consensus is that he could be fit to return later this year.

“Probably at the end of (February), maybe. But I think the way my body heals it won’t take that long. So at the end of next month, but I’m thinking earlier. We’ll see. I’m gonna go do rehab now,” he said.

Taking to his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel on Wednesday, he posted a video featuring training footage, particularly boxing training footage, from his trip to Mexico.

Fight fans soon took to social media platform, X, expressing excitement about his return.

An X user @blondedmma compared Adesanya’s return to UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ comeback after a three-year hiatus.

“This is going to be the greatest comeback ever since Jon Jones.”

A Nigerian MMA fan, Kenny Okoye, wrote, “When his power translates to the Octagon, it’s always something to behold.”

Another fan with the username, @MMA_Casuals_ added, “Love to see that kind of hunger in a former champ. Would be awesome to see him work on implementing some grappling offense as well.”

An X user, @CredibleIAM is one of those who believes Adesanya has a chance to reclaim his title.

“He’s coming back to take what’s rightfully his,” he wrote.

Source Punch Ng

Posted January 26, 2024

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