Israel Adesanya has ‘Michael Jordan-like aura about him’

Jon Anik thinks former UFC champion Israel Adesanya has nothing left to prove.

Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) suffered his third-straight loss when he was knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov (16-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 250 headliner at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “The Stylebender” has now lost four of his past five fights.

Adesanya, 35, is unsure what his fighting future holds. While the UFC play-by-play commentator questions how driven Adesanya would be to take on lesser competition, he thinks the former five-time defending UFC middleweight champion’s legacy is already set in stone.

He compared him to arguably the greatest and most popular athlete of all time, NBA legend Michael Jordan.

“He’s one of the greatest of all time, and his legacy is entrenched, and then you start to think about what are the reasons to fight on, your relative net worth,” Anik told Submission Radio. “I don’t think he needs money, he is one of the biggest stars in the company. What is his appetite for a three-round co-main event on pay-per-view against Brendan Allen right now? I can’t answer that question. I don’t know if he would rather do a five-round main event, I think the pay-per-view setting would make a lot of sense.

“And he’s a huge driver, he probably makes a ton of money to show, rightfully so, and he means big business. So, I don’t think this is the note upon which he wants to go out, but when you start to chase wins, when you start to chase the final green stripe on your Wikipedia page, it’s easier said than done. There are no easy outs in this middleweight division, but the dude’s the man. He has a Michael Jordan-like aura about him, and I’m just very grateful that I’ve had the chance to call all of his title fights.”

Adesanya holds notable wins over current light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira, former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva, and Yoel Romero.