MMA insider shares honest opinion on if Israel Adesanya should have taken time following accidental eye poke from Nassourdine Imavov

Israel Adesanya made his highly-anticipated return to the octagon last weekend. However, he was unsuccessful as he suffered a second-round TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov. The finishing sequence came moments after 'The Last Stylebender' declined to take time after being accidentally eye-poked.

Speaking on his self-titled show, Ariel Helwani revealed that he believes the two-time middleweight champion should have taken more time to recover:

"Izzy should have taken some time. He should've taken some time after he was accidentally poked in the eye. There's a sequence there in the second round. 4:43, this is the very beginning of the second round... Goddard steps in, this is right after the poke.

"You see his stance, he's fighting southpaw, right foot forward, switches stances, goes to orthodox and this is when he gets blasted. All this happens within the span of 20-30 seconds."

Helwani continued:

"This is not me taking anything away from Nassourdine Imavov. He did exactly what he had to do... In retrospect, the controversy if you will, is that [Adesanya] should've taken time, clearly. Him switching stances in that moment, five seconds later, would suggest that he was bothered. Nassourdine went in there and blasted him."

Check out Ariel Helwani's comments on Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov below:

Helwani reiterated that he believes Adesanya should have taken a minute to regroup, defining the moment as a turning point in the bout.

While 'The Last Stylebender' released a video rewatching the fight, he did not reveal what led to his decision not to take some time to recover from the eyepoke.

Israel Adesanya shares footage rewatching loss to Nassourdine Imavov

Israel Adesanya appeared in his first non-title bout in nearly six years this past weekend as he suffered a second-round TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov. Immediately after the bout, 'The Last Stylebender' released footage of himself rewatching the loss to social media.

He shared the video on X, captioning the post:

"🫀 “As real as it gets.” - @ufc Rolled the dice…snake eyes 🎲🎲 I’ll be back, gone to get some milk. 🥛🥛"

Check out Israel Adesanya's footage rewatching his clash with Nassourdine Imavov below:

The loss marked Adesanya's first career defeat in a non-title bout. While many have suggested he should retire, he noted that he is not done competing. The two-time middleweight champion did, however, reveal that he will likely take some time away following his third consecutive loss.