Israel Adesanya comfortable if UFC return doesn't involve title: 'I'd rather just fight'

Israel Adesanya is open, and perhaps even eager, to take on a non-title fight assignment for his bout.

While he’s remained relatively quiet talking about his immediate plans since his UFC 305 loss to Dricus Du Plessis in August, Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) revealed on “The Adam Carolla Show” on Tuesday his mental roadmap.

“(A rematch with Du Plessis) will come later on,” Adesanya said. “Right now, after I just fought him, I don’t think it’s going to be immediately. I’d rather just fight, not really for the belt, just fight for fighting’s sake. … Even though I don’t have the belt, they still have got my name in their mouth. I’m still Israel Adesanya. For me, I’ll let them call me out or whatever. At the moment, I want to fight one more time before the end of this year or early next year. I don’t know yet.

“I’m just training, building up where we left off. I’ll get the call at some point with a few options. I think Dana will hit me up at some point. (Sean Strickland) is going to fight Du Plessis first. I think he’s next. So even see how that plays out, see how the Rob-Khamzat fight plays out, and there are some other young guys on the come up. So yeah, we’ll see.”

Adesanya, 35, has not competed in a non-title fight since he defeated Anderson Siva by unanimous decision at UFC 234 in February 2019. The current two-fight skid he’s on is the first stretch of consecutive losses in his professional MMA careeer.

Du Plessis and Strickland are expected to square off in late 2024 or early 2025, after Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev fight in a potential title eliminator bout Oct. 26 at UFC 308 on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.