"Potential fight at the end of this year" - Israel Adesanya’s coach hints at UFC return, says 'Izzy' still has fights left in him

Eugene Bareman, coach of former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, has hinted that his star pupil could make a return to the octagon later this year.

Adesanya is currently on a three-fight losing skid, suffering losses against Sean Strickland, Dricus du Plessis, and Nassourdine Imavov. He has kept himself away from the UFC limelight after being knocked out by Imavov in his last bout and currently does not have a fight booked.

'The Last Stylebender's' head coach, Eugene Bareman, recently appeared in an interview with Submission Radio, where he shed light on Adesanya's future, hinting at a potential comeback before the year's end.

"Israel right now, basically, had the start of the year off, and he has come back into training in the last couple of months. He is training regularly, so he's training every day, twice a day. He needs to prepare his mind and body for a potential fight at the end of this year, so that's what he's doing."

Bareman continued:

"In terms of opponents, I don't know. Israel has got a couple of more [fight] in him. Just give him a fun fight. Give him something exciting. Give him something fun. I haven't thought about specific names. Leave it to the fans, I guess."

Check out Eugene Bareman's comments about Israel Adesanya below (8:20):

---

Khamzat Chimaev slams Israel Adesanya for doubting his skillset ahead of Dricus du Plessis bout

Newly minted middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev slammed Israel Adesanya, among others, for backing Dricus du Plessis ahead of their title clash last month.

Chimaev shared a video clip where Adesanya, Demetrious Johnson, Alexander Volkanovski, Michael Bisping, and a few others predicted that Chimaev could potentially face trouble against du Plessis. 'The Last Stylebender' predicted that du Plessis could secure a finish against Chimaev if the fight got past the first two rounds.

'Borz' shared a post on social media, slamming fellow fighters and analysts for doubting his skillset. He wrote:

"You understand now that you can't listen to these monkeys 🤦🏻‍♂️😂😂😂."