Outside Source
Adesanya notes that the current middleweight champion, Khamzat Chimaev, once fought twice within 10 days early in his UFC career. However, Chimaev won the title in August 2025 and will now defend it against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 on May 9. Adesanya sees the division slowing down without him as the champion.
The Last Active Champion
“Look at the middleweight division now — Khamzat was a very active guy coming up, smoking everybody, fighting multiple times, I think twice in a month, even at one point,” Adesanya told ESPN. “And now that he’s champion, I’m sure what the deal is – is it visa issues? Is it injuries? I’m not sure… The last active champion was me. The last guy who put it all on the line regardless, every time calling out the best, was me. So that’s one thing that I would say people didn’t appreciate, even I didn’t appreciate. Now that I’m here watching it, I’m like, damn, this game is just slow and stuck without me.”
Adesanya (24-5) won the middleweight title in 2019 and defended it five times before losing to Alex Pereira in 2022, also squeezing in a failed light heavyweight title bid. Adesanya reclaimed his title in the rematch against Pereira but failed to defend it against Sean Strickland. “The Last Stylebender” has since lost two more, putting him on a three-fight slump. Adesanya is now scheduled to headline UFC Seattle this weekend against Joe Pyfer (15-3). There have been four middleweight title fights overall since Adesanya lost the title to Strickland in September 2023.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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