Israel Adesanya reveals coach's eye-opening remark about Dricus du Plessis loss that impacted his fight camp for Nassourdine Imavov

Former UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya is all set to return to the octagon in February 2025. 'The Last Stylebender' will lock horns against Nassourdine Imavov in a five-round clash that will headline UFC Fight Night 250. The event will be held on Feb. 1 at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Adesanya recently uploaded a video to his YouTube channel where he discussed the fight. The New Zealander shared how a comment from his coach Eugene Bareman regarding the loss to Dricus du Plessis impacted his training camp for the upcoming encounter against Imavov.

"I did my best and I was in pretty good shape. I felt great but there's always room for improvement, which we've done now... Something Eugene said at the start of this camp, he said, 'If you had come into the camp like this, you wouldn't have lost that fight.'... I just noted that down. But the Dricus fight, I was in great shape, f**king felt strong, but yeah, definitely room for improvement and we've made those improvements."

Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below:

Adesanya was last seen in action in August when he faced off against du Plessis at UFC 305 for the middleweight throne. The fight was held at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.

The contest proved to be an exciting back-and-forth affair where both fighters had moments of success. In the fourth round, 'Stillknocks' managed to score a finish as he submitted Adesanya via a rear-naked choke. With the victory, the South African became the first fighter to score a submission win against 'The Lat Stylebender' in professional MMA.

For the first time in his professional MMA career, Adesanya has suffered two back-to-back losses. Imavov, on the other hand, is undefeated in his last four outings. So, a possible victory over 'The Sniper' in February might help Adesanya get one step closer to another shot at UFC gold.