"Same animal, different beast": Adesanya aims to issue lethal reminder of world champion pedigree in UFC 305 comeback

One of the common threads for the Kiwi contingent at UFC 305 this weekend is the narrative of returning to the Octagon after an extended hiatus, and you could argue nobody has needed that time away more than Israel Adesanya.

After his rapid ascent to champion, 'The Last Stylebender' has been pulled every which way by the demands that come with his exceptional level of fame. His brash demeanour and video-game brand of combat have combined to make him one the marquee faces of the behemoth promotion, which Adesanya has typically always been happy to oblige.

One of the results of that appeal has been a torrid fight schedule, where he's been not simply one of the most active champions on the UFC roster, but one of the most active fighters.

Perhaps it was some of the residual effects of that burnout that reared its head during the shock defeat to Sean Strickland to concede his middleweight world title in Sydney back in September, a five-round shutout and one of the biggest upsets in MMA history - not that Adesanya would ever admit as much.

But either way, it's been the catalyst for Adesanya to take stock, engage in some soul-searching, and reassess want he wants from the crazy and unforgiving game of professional fighting, a process which equally involved addressing his situation away from his safehaven of the gym.

"A lot has happened in the last 11 months," Adesanya admitted. "I've had to go through some life shit myself.

"My personal life is not on social media or shit like that all the time. I've had to go through a lot of life stuff and a lot of soul searching and a lot 'what do I want from this game, what do I want from life? What do I see myself? What would I want my legacy be? All those kinds of questions. All these questions I was asking myself and have a honest talk to myself.

"Eventually, I just knew when I came back I wanted to be. Like you renewed, reinvented. I wanted to be a different. Like Kobe said, I want to be the same animal but a different beast."

And the MMA world will have the opportunity to see just how beneficial that hiatus has been, when Adesanya makes his return against Dricus Du Plessis in the headline act at UFC 305 Perth, part of a Kiwi triple-header which also features City Kickboxing teammates Dan Hooker and Kai Kara-France.

The South African captured the belt in a narrow split-decision win over Strickland back in Toronto in January but had already laid the ground work for a matchup with Adesanya, having sparked a raw nerve with his assertion that he is the true African fighter in the UFC rather than the NZ-based, Nigerian-born Adesanya.

As his teammates will attest, the comments certainly "triggered" Adesanya, pouring fuel on the fire for what he describes has been one of the best fight camps of his career, where he says Eugene Bareman and the rest of his coaching staff have made some adjustments to ensure they're working as efficiently and safely as possible, while taking into account his significant workload over the past six years.

"We reshuffled the deck," he explained. "We pretty much kept what was useful and discarded what was useless for us. We upgraded the, the program itself and had a pre-season, we had training blocks. Not just going hard, hard, hard, hard and getting injured and stuff.

"I think they saw the schedule that I was on…. I have five fights in 16 months as a champion. Again, it's not just the fight itself, it's the work you have to do to get ready for the fight.

"They saw, the detriment that was doing to me and some of the other fighters. So, it was good to refresh everything."

The overall result is what Adesanya describes as a wholesale upgrade of his complete package as a fighter.

"I've definitely raised the level of athlete that I am by taking this break, by doing the right things to let my body heel, and even just remove myself from the game completely for a few months," he added.

"I know what I can do, my team knows what I can do, and it's just time to show people what I can do."

The awkward high-pressure style of Du Plessis mirrors closely resembles the off-beat, off-tempo style of Strickland, and the South African's gameplan will be no different come Sunday.

Du Plessis has forged his reputation as a fast-paced fighter with relentless pressure, which could well play into Adesanya's hands as a counter-striker extraordinaire. But given Strickland's success with a similar strategy, the tweaks made to prevent that happening again may result in a fascinating chess match.

Either way, Adesanya is determined to make a statement at RAC Arena on Sunday. He knows what it's like to be written off after a loss, and he knows equally what it's like to respond to defeat – case in point: Alex Pereira.

"This weekend, I kind of want to do what I have to do, and when I do it again, people are going to be like, f***, how did we not see this coming? How did we underestimate that? Amazing. It's just time to remind people."

Adesanya used the word "calm" to assess his state of mind heading into the bout, and he looked every bit of that as he addressed media in Perth on Thursday.

There seems to be an increased focus this week for Adesanya, whose naturally gregarious nature has been decidedly under wraps.

You get the sense it bodes well for his performance come Sunday in an arena likely to be resplendent in Springboks green.

"I think you guys will see the best me you have seen yet," he said. "I'm the biggest I've ever been. The most muscular, I guess I've ever been.

"I feel faster. I surprise myself sometimes with the speed that I'm hitting with. Not really hitting hard. I'm just really sharp. I feel like a blade in this one.
"It's been good to refresh myself and reset myself, now let's get it."

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