Kamaru Usman thinks Israel Adesanya‘s battle is more mental than physical.
Former middleweight champion Adesanya (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) dropped his fourth fight in a row when he was finished by Joe Pyfer in the UFC Fight Night 271 main event last month.
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Adesanya won Round 1 on all three judges’ scorecards, but was eventually lured into trading blows with Pyfer, which resulted in him getting finished on the ground in Round 2. Usman likes what he saw out of Adesanya, but can see some self-doubt.
“I’m a fan of Israel’s, and as a spectator, as well, I see it from that perspective,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “But I also see it as a fighter who has been in a situation like this, and God, it’s difficult, because he still has it. You can see it. He can still twitch you and land and chop you up to where, I think, when you’re in a situation like this, it’s almost impossible not to doubt yourself. When you’re on the way up, and you’re young, and you’re just, ‘Next one, next one, next one,’ you’re consistently just going in there and doing it and being victorious. You don’t have time to doubt yourself. You have that chip on your shoulder.
“But when you’ve been to the top, and now you’re rolling back down, you start to doubt yourself while you’re rolling back down. Do I still have it? Can I still do it? Am I still that good? So you have to find some way to anchor yourself and turn the boat around. That’s why I feel like when the fight starts, Izzy knows he still has it, so he goes out there and shows the brilliance. He shows it. He does his thing. But then, when you face that resistance, are you able to anchor yourself back down, stick with the game plan, use your fight IQ, and continue to build back up that stream? And that’s what I just think that we’re having a little bit of trouble there with Izzy, because you saw it.”
Adesanya doesn’t intend on retiring despite his losing skid. Usman explains how with some minor adjustments, “The Stylebender” can rebound.
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“It’s just a few things throughout the course of that fight,” Usman said. “You see the brilliance. You see, when he switched stances and kicked the body, he measured, he measured, found that knee that was an inch off. A little bit more with that knee, fight’s over – Pyfer’s gone. So he shows that brilliance. It’s still there. But when you start to face resistance, especially a guy as powerful as Pyfer, and he starts to hit you really, really hard, and you take those shots, can you anchor yourself and say, ‘You know what? I’ve still got what it takes. Let me get back to the game plan. Let me use this fight IQ here and let me win’?
“And that’s just where I think he’s having a little bit of trouble. But the only person who can answer that is Izzy. Can he still anchor himself? Can he still find that? Because he still has the skills. He’s still sharp. He can still put combinations together.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Kamaru Usman: Israel Adesanya can rebound if he can clear doubt
