WATCH: Israel Adesanya looks dejected after UFC 284 result announcement, visits Alexander Volkanovski backstage
Israel Adesanya was in attendance at the RAC Arena in Perth as his teammate Alexander Volkanovski made a double champ bid against Islam Makhachev in the main event at UFC 284.
Adesanya was holding his other teammate Dan Hooker's hand as Bruce Buffer read out the scores after the barnburning five-rounder. While 'The Hangman' had already started laughing, Adesanya seemed anxious.
'The Last Stylebender's fears came true as Makhachev was announced the winner via unanimous decision. Adesanya sat with his hands held in his face in disbelief as his eyes seemingly watered up.
The former UFC middleweight champiom hugged Volkanovski on his way out of the octagon, saying,
"I love you. You're the one, buddy"
Israel Adesanya then made his way backstage to be with the team who were all gathered around Volkanovski. After shaking hands with everyone, 'The Great' made a gracious statement:
"I am never gonna be too out of myself but a lot of people counted me out, didn't think I ever stood a chance so they are happy with that performance. But we never could get it. That's gonna be hard on myself because obviously I was still expecting a win. Great match."
Catch Israel Adesanya's reaction to the UFC 284 headliner below:
Israel Adesanya has provided a potential retirement timeline
Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 281 last year, making it his third loss against 'Poatan' across combat sports. 'The Last Stylebender' is now set to return to the octagon against Pereira at UFC 287 in April.
Months away from a second middleweight title bid, Adesanya recently revealed a potential timeline for his retirement. Having spent five years in the UFC, the former middleweight champion believes he will not be here in another five years. 'The Last Stylebender said at UFC 284:
"I've been in the UFC five years, right? If I'm being honest, I'm not gonna be here in five years. I have other things to do in life... I love this s**t and I'm f**king great at it but I never attach myself to this and I'm gonna leave on top. So yeah, that's the place where I feel like you should leave. But again, I've been here five years in the UFC, [snaps fingers] it went like that. We'll see how long I'm here for but I don't think it's gonna be five years."
Catch Israel Adesanya's comments below: