Thirteen months after his redemption arc took a hit with a knockout loss to Nassourdine Imavov, Israel Adesanya’s downward spiral has further deepened after suffering a bruising loss to American star Joe Pyfer at UFC Fight Night Seattle on Saturday, March 28.

Coming off three consecutive losses, Israel, who was ranked fourth in the middleweight division standings, had a lot going in his favour against the 14th-ranked opponent. The former two-time UFC champion looked in control in the early stages of the bout, putting Pyfer on the back foot and landing multiple leg kicks, but the American absorbed most of the pressure, before scoring a counter hook and a takedown. A couple of seconds past the four-minute mark of the second round, Pyfer took Adesanya to the canvas, unleashing a flurry of ground-and-pound that sealed his biggest career win yet.

The loss takes Adesanya’s run to four consecutive defeats and further casts doubt on his future in the middleweight division. The 36-year-old, however, has reiterated his resolve to continue.

“You keep going. Again and again and again and again and again. I’m not f****** leaving,” he said in his post-fight interview. “You’ll never stop me. I might get beat, but I’ll always remain undefeated.”

“I will keep going again and again. I’m not f¥cking leaving. You can’t stop me. I might get be@ten, but I’d always remain undefeated”- Nigerian Boxer, Israel Adesanya says after losing.#99Pluznews pic.twitter.com/ucrIW2lsTw

— 99Pluz (@99Pluz) March 29, 2026

Adesanya’s last victory dates back to 2023, when he defeated Alex Pereira to avenge a loss from five months earlier. Meanwhile, Pyfer was quite the generous winner, showing respect to Adesanya in his post-fight interview.

“Izzy is not the most powerful guy in the world, we know that, but he’s one of the highest fight IQ champions of all time,” the 29-year-old said. “There’s nobody better. In my book, he’s the best middleweight of all time. I love you as a champion, love you as a person. Congratulations to Israel. My man was No. 4; I’m in the top five now. As Izzy said, ‘They need me, and here I am.'”