Morning Report | Kamaru Usman: Israel Adesanya ‘still has it,’ needs to overcome mental battle to win again

Kamaru Usman believes Israel Adesanya still has the skills, but it’s the mental game that’s a problem right now.

This past Saturday, Adesanya lost to Joe Pyfer in the main event of UFC Seattle for his fourth defeat in a row. Much like his two previous losses, Adesanya started out strong before faltering as the fight went on and getting stopped. In the aftermath, questions about Adesanya’s future started popping up, though “The Last Stylebender” insisted he has no plans to retire anytime soon. And his longtime friend, Kamaru Usman, thinks that’s fine, if Adesanya can lock back in.

“I’m a fan of Israel’s, and as a spectator, as well, I see it from that perspective. But I also see it as a fighter who has been in a situation like this,” Usman said on his Pound-4-Pound podcast. “And God, it’s difficult, because he still has it. You can see it. He can still twitch you and land and chop you up, to where I think, when you’re in a situation like this, it’s almost impossible not to doubt yourself.

“When you’re on the way up, and you’re young, you’re just, ‘Next one, next one, next one.’ You’re consistently just going in there and doing it and being victorious. You don’t have time to doubt yourself. You have that chip on your shoulder. But when you’ve been to the top, and now you’re rolling back down, you start to doubt yourself while you’re rolling back down. Do I still have it? Can I still do it? Am I still that good? So, you have to find some way to anchor yourself and turn the boat around.

“That’s why I feel like, when the fight starts, Izzy knows he still has it. So, he goes out there and shows the brilliance. He shows it. He does his thing. But then, when you face that resistance, are you able to anchor yourself back down, stick with the game plan, use your fight IQ, and continue to build back up that stream? And that’s what I just think we’re having a little bit of trouble there with Izzy, because you saw it.”

Usman understands Adesanya’s position better than most. Both Usman and Adesanya had five title defenses as UFC champions, with much of their reigns overlapping, and like Adesanya, Usman went on a long losing streak after losing his, dropping three consecutive fights. However, Usman rebounded last year at UFC Atlanta, defeating Joaquin Buckley to get back on the winning track, and so he believes he knows exactly the mental hurdles Adesanya has to battle through. But ultimately, it’s Adesanya who has to do it.

“It’s just a few things throughout the course of that fight,” Usman said. “You see the brilliance. You see, when he switched stances and kicked the body, he measured, he measured, found that knee that was an inch off. A little bit more with that knee, fight’s over, Pyfer’s gone. So, he shows that brilliance, it’s still there, but when you start to face resistance, especially a guy as powerful as Pyfer, and he starts to hit you really, really hard, and you take those shots, can you anchor yourself and say, ‘You know what, I still got what it takes. Let me get back to the game plan. Let me use this fight IQ here and let me win.’ And that’s just where I think he’s having a little bit of trouble.

“But the only person who can answer that is Izzy. Can he still anchor himself? Can he still find that? Because he still has the skills. He’s still sharp. He can still put combinations together.”

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Let’s be honest, tomorrow’s UFC card is the definition of a Strawberry Picking Card (it’s not apple season). If you’ve got nothing else to do on Saturday night, then fire up Paramount+ and watch some fights. But if you do have anything else, go do that, and we here at MMA Fighting will keep you up on all the important things that happen.

Enjoy the weekend. Love y’all.

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