Just came back from a 5-day trip to Vegas.
Missed the fight (live), but watched Adesanya x Imavov after-the-fact.
Don't know why everybody thinks Adesanya is "washed." He actually look good against Imavov, and was winning, on almost every level, "until he wasn't":
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The simple fact is, Adesanya he got caught by a younger, (likely)
hungrier fighter.
The other truth is
Imavov = a tough guy, with nerves of steel, and a heavy punch.
If you actually watch the fight, Adesanya was in control almost the entire time.
Even when Adesanya got caught by an Imavov uppercut @ 1:14 of the 1st Round, Adesanya responded by a left-right uppercut against the cage, both of which clipped Imovev, but they had no effect.
At the end of the day, I concur with many that Adesanya's
reflexes may be on the decline, but his skillset is not.
Adesanya looked good in there, was (mostly) in control, even handled the grappling — and controlled-back — but he got caught.
If I saw any weakness in Adesanya, it was perhaps in his reflexes, but also (and always) trying to "pose for the crowd" ... acting like a "model" instead of a fighter.
At the end of the day, Imavov was simply
the tougher man, who could take what Adesanya threw, while Adesanya does not have that same level of actual toughness.
Imavov simply caught Adesanya, and finished him, despite being behind on virtually all of the other stats.
Adesanya does NOT need "to retire" ... what he needs to do is stop posing ...
let go of his ego ... and stay alert.
He does NOT have Pereira's punch to fall back on, or his technical tightness.
Adesanya relies on speed and reflexes. If those are waning, he needs to be more alert and defensively sound.
Historically, big punchers will last longer in the rankings (as Pereira has proven), while "fast" but feather-fisted fighters, spiral down the drain more quickly (as Izzy's latest record is proving).
That said, is he still has plenty to offer, but he needs to "get over himself", gain some humility, if that's even possible for him.
But I think he actually looked good in his last fight — until he didn't.
Fast, athletic fighters — when that's all they have to offer (like Roy Jones Jr.) — always go down hard, and embarrassingly.
Especially, when their reflexes were basically all they had.
