Israel Adesanya’s Freefall Continues as Joe Pyfer Knockout Extends Losing Streak to Four Straight
There was a time not too long ago when Israel Adesanya looked untouchable. That time feels very far away right now.
The Nigerian-born UFC star suffered his fourth consecutive defeat on Saturday night, March 28, when Joe Pyfer stopped him in round two of their middleweight bout at UFC Seattle in Washington. Referee Herb Dean waved off the contest with 42 seconds still remaining in the second round, and just like that, one of the most decorated careers in UFC history took another painful step in the wrong direction.
Adesanya actually started the fight well, taking the first round and looking sharp enough to suggest that perhaps the losing run was about to come to an end. He carried that momentum into round two and began pressing forward, hunting for a finish. But Pyfer, ranked 14th in the middleweight division, had other ideas. The younger fighter began landing heavy shots as the fight opened up into a full brawl, and once he secured a takedown and got Adesanya on the mat, it was a different contest entirely. Pyfer poured on the ground strikes and Adesanya, at 35 years old, had no answer for them.
To fully grasp how steep this decline has been, you have to rewind to April 2023, when Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira at UFC 287 in one of the most satisfying moments of his career. That victory felt like a full circle moment. Instead, it turned out to be the last win he has had.
What followed has been a three-year unravelling. First came a unanimous decision loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293, a fight where Adesanya was dropped and never looked like the dominant force the division had come to fear. Then in August 2024, Dricus du Plessis submitted him to retain the belt he had taken from Strickland, leaving Adesanya without a title and without a clear path back to one. In February 2025, Nassourdine Imavov knocked him out inside a single round at UFC Saudi Arabia, a result that put his future in the sport under serious question.
Saturday’s loss to Pyfer, a contender he was widely expected to beat, only deepens that uncertainty.
At his peak, Adesanya was a generational talent. Fluid, technical, composed under pressure and with knockout power that belied his slender frame. The question that nobody wants to ask out loud but everyone is thinking is whether that version of him is gone for good, and what comes next for a fighter who has given so much to the sport but currently finds himself on the wrong side of every big moment.
