Heavyweight Luminary Reveals Feelings on UFC Seattle Main Event

Francis Ngannou may be busy preparing for his May 16 fight on the Netflix streaming service against Philipe Lins in Inglewood, CA, but “The Predator” is still keeping tabs on the goings-on in the sport’s No. 1 promotion, the UFC. Over the weekend, Climate Pledge Arena played host to UFC Seattle.

In the night’s main event this past Saturday, middleweights Israel Adesanya (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) and Joe Pyfer (16-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) took to the fabled Octagon in the Pacific Northwest. Despite a dominant opening round for “The Last Stylebender” in which he converted on 57 percent of his strikes, Francis Ngannou’s friend had a reversal of fortune.

During the second round of a scheduled five in the UFC Seattle main event, it was “Bodybagz” who displayed dominance, landing a fierce burst of ground and pound shots to send him inside the top five of the rankings at middleweight. The loss was Adesanya’s fourth in succession.

In spite of calls for Adesanya to retire from the sport of MMA in the wake of his defeat over the weekend, he’s said he won’t go anywhere anytime soon. After the fight, Francis Ngannou shared his thoughts on what happened via social media.

Francis Ngannou Posts to Instagram to Talk Adesanya Loss

Posting on Instagram, “The Predator” admitted that the UFC Seattle headliner wasn’t that easy of a watch for him.

“It reminds you of how ungrateful this sport is,” Francis Ngannou said. “Sometimes, it’s good at you, sometimes, no matter what you do, it lets you down.”

He also recalled how the fight turned sour for Israel Adesanya between the first and second rounds of action.

“He looked sharp. He looked very sharp,” Ngannou mentioned. “After the first round, I’m like ‘Oh, we this. This is good. He’s back.'”

Francis Ngannou on Israel Adesanya’s Fate After Opening Round in UFC Seattle

Ultimately, though, it wasn’t to be in the cards for Israel Adesanya on Saturday night. Joe Pyfer’s ground game proved to be the deciding factor in the contest, sending the latter within distance of a shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship.

Francis Ngannou also took time out to discuss how even the best of intentions don’t result in what’s desired.

“Man, sometimes we plan, but God has other plans,” Ngannou mentioned. “I can only imagine how tough Izzy is to come back out of it.”

Thoughts on Adesanya’s Loss to Joe Pyfer in UFC Seattle

Francis Ngannou hit the bullseye with his comments on Instagram. A fighter can train all he or she would like and watch every second of available video on his or her opponent on any given Saturday night.

At the end of the day, however, what matters the most is what happens when the cage door slams shut and the referee gives the command to fight. Once the signal is given by the referee, anything else that transpires is anyone’s guess.

Adesanya looked like the man who won and defended the championship six times in the first round of action. Once the second period of the fight began, however, momentum shifted to Joe Pyfer’s side of the ledger.

Final Thoughts: Should Israel Adesanya End His Career in Wake of UFC Seattle Defeat Saturday?

Although Israel Adesanya’s said that he has no intentions to retire from the sport of MMA in the aftermath of UFC Seattle on Saturday night, it may be time for “The Last Stylebender” to think long and hard about his future. This weekend’s defeat was his fourth in succession.

It’s a loss which may have signaled the end of Adesanya’s time as a main event fighter in the UFC. There are certainly highs and lows in the career of any competitor in the sport of MMA.

Adesanya has experienced the highest of highs during his UFC tenure and with his fourth straight loss in Puget Sound, he’s now experiencing the lowest of lows. It’ll be interesting to see if he walks back his intentions to continue fighting.