![Israel Adesanya (pictured) called out by former opponent for trilogy following KO loss at UFC Saudi Arabia [Image courtesy: Getty Images]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/02/2d8b6-17385038583161-1920.jpg)
![Israel Adesanya (pictured) called out by former opponent for trilogy following KO loss at UFC Saudi Arabia [Image courtesy: Getty Images]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http%3A//www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns%3Axlink='http%3A//www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20viewBox='0%200%2010%206.25'%3E%3Cfilter%20id='b'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20stdDeviation='.5'%3E%3C/feGaussianBlur%3E%3CfeComponentTransfer%3E%3CfeFuncA%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20type='discrete'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20tableValues='1%201'%3E%3C/feFuncA%3E%3C/feComponentTransfer%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20filter='url(%23b)'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUH/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgT/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAMKgAt//xAAdEAACAgIDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAACAwEFAAQREmLR/9oACAEBAAE/AG19ZRht11ptWDmOmCMdZaxGevopmcaNILTgW2XWJnjla/uf/8QAFREBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEH/2gAIAQIBAT8Ar//EABcRAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABEgL/2gAIAQMBAT8AjMo//9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Israel Adesanya found himself in foreign territory after suffering a defeat to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia. He record his third straight loss for the first time in his combat sports career.
'The Last Stylebender' hoped to bounce back from his submission loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 with a strong performance against Imavov. The former champion started well, landing thudding leg kicks and controlling range in Round 1.
But after suffering an eye-poke in the second round, Adesanya didn't take any time to recover and opted to continue with the hope of pressuring his seemingly fatiguing opponent.
The 35-year old was then caught with a crisp right-hand while switching stances, dropping him before several follow-up strikes forced the referee to stop the fight. Following the result, two-time former opponent of Adesanya's, Marvin Vettori, took to X to suggest the pair have a trilogy bout.
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He wrote:
"Only chance for Adesanya to win a fight is to fight me lol"
Check out Marvin Vettori's callout of Israel Adesanya below:
The duo most recently clashed at UFC 263 in 2021, where 'The Last Stylebender' secured a dominant unanimous decision win. With Adesanya winning both their fights, a third bout between the pair is almost certainly off the table.
Israel Adesanya remains unsure about his fighting future following three losses in a row
UFC Saudi Arabia saw a thrilling middleweight matchup headline the card, as Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov went to war for a chance to insert themselves into the division's title picture.
Fans were eager to see if Adesanya could regain his form of old after suffering back-to-back defeats to Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis. But 'The Last Stylebender' once again found himself on the wrong side of the result, and questions about how much longer the 35-year-old will keep fighting have been raised.
The former middleweight king was interviewed by ESPN MMA following his loss to Imavov, where he was asked to share his thoughts on his future with the UFC. He said:
"I don't know [what's next]. I'll have to chill and then think about things. I'll relax first for a little bit, just help the teammates who have fights coming up. Yeah, see what I wanna do. I was gonna [help my team] out anyway, but now I'm forced to. Shout out to Nassourdine for that."
Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below (1:10):
