Former UFC Champion Israel Adesanya Joins New Gym Amid Four-Fight Losing Streak
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has joined a new training team in Sydney, Australia, following a four-fight losing streak. He recently parted ways with his longtime gym, City Kickboxing, to seek a fresh start in his career.
Why it matters
Adesanya is a high-profile athlete whose career trajectory significantly impacts the UFC middleweight division and combat sports media.
Israel Adesanya has taken a significant step in his career revival by linking up with a new team in Sydney. The former UFC middleweight champion was recently spotted training alongside current featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski and rising lightweight contender Mauricio Ruffy.
Training footage posted by Adesanya and Volkanovski's combat sports brand, Engage, showed the former champion arriving at the Freestyle MMA Performance Centre in Australia, the well-known base for Alexander Volkanovski.
Another video, shared by Ruffy on social media, captures the Brazilian and Adesanya moving through drills, confirming the former champion's arrival in Australia.
The gym, led by coach Joe Lopez, could be Adesanya's new training home, at least for the foreseeable future. The videos also featured coaches from the Thailand MMA camp, Bangtao MMA, with recently retired UFC fighter Brad Riddell and coach George Hickman seemingly undertaking coaching duties for the fighters.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in