"Return of the champ" - Fans get excited as Israel Adesanya drops brand new training photos with six-word caption

Fans recently expressed their thoughts on Israel Adesanya's new training photos. Many are excited about them as Adesanya gets closer to making his octagon comeback.

Adesanya established himself as one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts history during his previous reign at the top of the middleweight division. After taking the longest sabbatical of his combat sports career, 'The Last Stylebender' could be getting closer to making his return to competition. There are rumors that the two-time middleweight champion is in talks to challenge Dricus du Plessis for the title at UFC 305 on August 18.

The former UFC middleweight champion recently took to X and shared pictures of him sparring. The caption to the post reads:

''Just hang up, I'm dialed in.''

Fans soon rushed to the comments section to share their reactions.

One fan wrote:

''Patiently waiting for the return of the Champ''

Another fan wrote:

''We need that fight announced Izzy, that fight has to happen soon, Sean is waiting and Rob vs Khamzat winner will be waiting too. Time for the comeback StyleBender.''

Other fans wrote:

''You need that lick back from Strickland. I still can't believe you lost that fight. That needs to be next too gang. Get it back.''

''Bring back the excitement. Middleweight is dead already.''

Check out some more reactions below:

Screenshot of fan reactions to Israel Adesanya's post on X

In his last octagon outing at UFC 293 last September, Adesanya squared off against Sean Strickland in a middleweight title fight. 'Tarzan' had only been granted the opportunity because top contender du Plessis was unavailable, and on paper, Adesanya appeared to be a terrible matchup for him.

But astonishingly, Strickland perfectly executed his game plan. He applied more pressure to Adesanya than any opponent had likely ever done before, knocking him down and throwing well-timed shots throughout the contest.

The fight lasted five rounds, with Strickland getting his hand raised via unanimous decision to become the new UFC middleweight champion.

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Israel Adesanya reacts to Sean Strickland's win at UFC 302

Israel Adesanya watched closely as his old rivals Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa squared off in the co-main event of UFC 302 this past Saturday. The pay-per-view took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Strickland defeated Costa via split decision after dominating the Brazilian for the entire five rounds, a result that Adesanya correctly predicted.

'The Last Stylebender' recently uploaded a video on his Youtube channel and expressed his thoughts on 'Tarzan's' win:

''Costa sucks off the back foot. He’s not really good off the back foot. He’s doing better in this fight. Costa could set him up so bad here, man, because [Strickland is] so worried about that leg. It’s easier said than done [to stand your ground against Strickland], I’ll tell you that, but if you’ve worked on it, you know how to do it.”

Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below (3:16):