Israel Adesanya’s losing streak has people rushing to the same easy conclusion, but Kamaru Usman sees a different problem. He does not think Adesanya’s issue is a total loss of skill. He thinks the bigger question is whether Adesanya still trusts himself once a fight starts getting ugly.
Speaking on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Henry Cejudo, Usman said he still sees plenty of the old Adesanya even after the stoppage loss to Joe Pyfer at UFC Seattle. That is what makes this discussion more interesting than the standard retirement noise. Adesanya still had stretches where his timing, stance switches, and shot selection looked dangerous, even if the loss sent him sliding in the middleweight rankings.
As Usman put it,
“I’m a fan of Israel’s, and as a spectator, as well, I see it from that perspective. 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.”
That is the center of Usman’s argument. He is not saying Adesanya is done. He is saying the former champion may be hesitating at the exact moments when he used to be most settled. That idea tracks with what plenty of people saw in Seattle, where Adesanya had success early before the fight turned. It also fits with the broader split around his future, especially after Daniel Cormier pushed back on retirement talk while others leaned hard in the opposite direction.
Watch the full discussion below:
Usman says Adesanya still has the tools, but needs to steady himself when fights turn
Usman stayed on that point by focusing on the sequences that showed Adesanya can still produce elite offense. In his view, the issue is not whether the skill remains. It is whether Adesanya can settle himself and return to smart choices after the opponent forces hard exchanges.
Usman said,
“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.”
That is a much more specific diagnosis than just declaring a fighter finished. Usman is pointing to decision-making under pressure, not pretending Adesanya suddenly forgot how to strike. He even highlighted the sequence that still makes him believe the upside is there.
In Usman’s words,
“It’s just a few things throughout the course of that fight. 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’?”
Adesanya has already made it clear that he is not planning to walk away, and that matters here. Usman is not talking about a fighter who wants out. He is talking about a former champion who still appears sharp in spots, but may need to reconnect with the discipline that carried him to the top of the division.
Usman closed with the part that matters most for Adesanya’s next fight.
“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? CaKamaru Usmann he still find that? Because he still has the skills. He’s still sharp. He can still put combinations together.”
The tools may still be there. The question is whether Adesanya can trust them again when the fight starts pushing back.
