Eugene Bareman says [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] is inching closer to coming back.
Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) announced that he’ll be taking some time off after losing his middleweight title to Sean Strickland this past September at UFC 293.
According to his head coach Bareman, Adesanya has been staying ready at City Kickboxing in case he gets the call for a fight.
“Izzy’s back training, so he’s back in the swing of things,” Bareman told Combat TV. “We’re training just in case there’s an eventuality of a fight. We’re getting him fit and he’s getting ready to take up a potential date should one come up soon. He’s basically finished his little hiatus and he’s ready to come back. So just give us a date, give us an opponent and we’ll show up ready to go.”
With UFC 300 yet to have a main event announced, Adesanya’s name has been linked to both middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. With a scheduled date of April 13, UFC 300 is just under two months away, and Bareman hints that Adesanya will be ready to go right around that time.
“We’ve been going for a good month-and-a-half now, so he’s probably on the edge of starting to look like he’s getting started to get back in shape,” Bareman said. “A couple more months, another month-and-a-half, he’ll be flying. He’ll be back to pre-hiatus kind of level.
“He’s looking good. It’s good to have him back in the gym. He seems to have a renewed sort of energy, and he’s definitely resided to looking after himself really well. He’s been making the most of his time off and he feels like he’s refreshed and ready to go.”
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