Israel Adesanya has always been able to stay cool and deliver in high-pressure moments throughout his combat sports career but the former champion enters his next challenge in unfamiliar territory.
The former longtime UFC middleweight champion is currently on the worst cold streak of his career as he prepares to face a rising star and dangerous finisher in Joe Pyfer.
Adesanya is looking to avoid a fourth consecutive loss, while Pyfer aims to extend his current winning streak to four.
This weekend could be a turning point in the UFC’s middleweight division when Adesanya and Pyfer headline a 13-bout Fight Night card at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena. Will it spell the official end of Adesanya’s run as a championship-calibre fighter, and can Pyfer break into the upper stratosphere of the 185-pound division?
Saturday marks Adesanya’s 13th consecutive UFC main event and 15th overall. In fact, all his fights since his first championship matchup with Robert Whittaker in 2019 have been main events and all scheduled for five rounds just like this weekend’s featured matchup.
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Only two middleweights in UFC history have accumulated more in-cage time than Adesanya’s 4:51:30 spent competing in 185-pound matchups. If Saturday’s contest makes it late into Round 2 he’ll surpass the five-hour mark.
Adesanya is a future Hall of Famer with copious accomplishments both in mixed martial arts and kickboxing before that. He’s the only fighter in MMA to earn a knockout win over two-weight and potentially soon-to-be three-weight titleholder Alex Pereira.
That iconic moment from Adesanya at UFC 287 three years ago made him the only two-time middleweight champion in UFC history and it remains one of the sport’s all-time great revenge moments since he avenged a previous UFC loss and two prior kickboxing defeats to Pereira.
Unfortunately for Adesanya, that was also the last time he had his hand raised in victory and it was almost 36 months ago.
Adesanya, 36, lost his title in his next outing five months later when he was upset by Sean Stickland. He was submitted by Dricus Du Plessis in his lone 2024 appearance and his only 2025 fight ended with him getting stopped by Nassourdine Imavov via TKO.
Despite losing three in a row and four of five dating back to 2022, and with Pyfer entering the weekend on a hot streak, Adesanya is still the slight betting favourite: Adesanya is -145 chalk and Pyfer a +120 underdog. Adesanya’s elite strength of schedule and experience are leaps and bounds above Pyfer’s and that’s a key factor in the oddsmaker projections.
This is the first time Philadelphia’s Pyfer has been the listed underdog ahead of one of his UFC bouts. The 29-year-old is 6-1 under the UFC banner since debuting in 2022 with all but one of his wins being by KO/TKO or submission.
Pyfer stumbled in his first UFC main event when he was humbled and outpointed for five rounds by veteran Jack Hermansson two years ago. That challenge at the time was too much, too soon for Pyfer but now “Bodybagz” has the biggest opportunity of his career this weekend in his second UFC main event spotlight.
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Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and knockout artist Joe Pyfer meet in Seattle. Watch UFC Fight Night action on Saturday, March 28 on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+ with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT.
The touted Marquez MMA team member rebounded from his loss to Hermansson with an 85-second starching of Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 303.
Pyfer then busted up Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 316 but couldn’t get a finish, although in fairness literally no one ever stops Gastelum with strikes.
His most recent appearance was an October win over Abus Magomedov when he forced a tap with a face crank to earn a performance bonus at UFC 320.
A win over Adesanya, who is still the No. 4-ranked contender in the weight class, would skyrocket Pyfer up the rankings since Pyfer enters the weekend as the No. 14 contender.
Stylistically, Pyfer can look to Adesanya’s two most recent losses to potentially find areas to exploit. Both Du Plessis and Imavov were able to successfully pressure Adesanya and hurt him with their hands. Pyfer is no stranger to doing exactly that. Imavov was able to capitalize on a big knockdown and finish with strikes, while Du Plessis decided to attack a submission after he rocked Adesanya.
Pyfer’s got the proven power in his hands to remove any middleweight from consciousness, and his jiu-jitsu prowess is a secondary option he can rely on when the fight hits the floor.
Adesanya will have a height and reach advantage and can switch stances when needed both offensively and defensively. He lands more strikes per minute at higher accuracy than Pyfer and Adesanya has showed quality takedown defence throughout his entire UFC career.
Fight fans are going to find out this weekend if father time has finally caught up to Adesanya and whether Pyfer can finally get to that next level of stardom.
UNDERCARD OVERVIEW
Canadian content: A pair of fighters will be in Seattle representing Canada. Lightweight Lance Gibson Jr., was born in Seattle and the 30-year-old fights out of Port Moody, B.C. He lost his UFC debut by split decision to 29-fight UFC veteran Bobby “King” Green. Gibson’s sophomore outing is a tricky matchup with jiu-jitsu whiz Chase Cooper on Saturday’s prelims.
The main card kicks off with a barnburner of a featherweight scrap when Huntsville, Ont.’s Kyle Nelson faces American Terrance McKinney. This one should be all action for as long as it lasts – which might not be very long at all. Nelson, 34, is 4-1 in his past five UFC appearances and coming off an October win over Matt Frevola. McKinney, 31, is looking to bounce back from a December submission loss to Chris Duncan. McKinney has never gone the distance and only four of his 25 pro bouts have made it out of the first round.
Barber breakthrough: The co-main event is a women’s flyweight fight between former titleholder Alexa Grasso and rising star Maycee Barber. It’s a rematch of a 2021 bout Grasso won via three-round unanimous decision and it’s a pivotal matchup in the 125-pound division. Grasso has her back against the wall just like fellow former champ Adesanya after going winless in her past three outings. After submitting Valentina Shevchenko three years ago to become champ, Grasso fought to a draw with Shevchenko in their 2023 rematch to retain the title, then lost it to Shevchenko in a five-round decision in their trilogy bout in 2024.
The 32-year-old Mexican is coming off a decision loss to Natalia Silva 10 months ago. She was initially supposed to begin her 2026 campaign in January, but a scheduled UFC 324 bout with Rose Namajunas was cancelled after Grasso withdrew due to injury. Grasso is still the No. 3-ranked contender as Barber, 27, sits at No. 5 looking for her eighth consecutive win. Her most recent win was an emotional one since it was her first appearance in almost two full years due to a plethora of injuries and health issues.
This isn’t being billed as a title eliminator, however if Barber wins and does so impressively you can be sure to hear her call for a title shot and challenge Shevchenko.
Strong crop of DWCS alumni: Pyfer isn’t the only prominent alumni of Dana White’s Contender Series set for the Seattle card. A growing percentage of professional fighters these days are earning their first UFC contract through the series and on Saturday there are a dozen total fighters at UFC Seattle that came through the DWCS system. In addition to Pyfer and Barber, two main card bouts are all-DWCS matchups. Featherweights Julian Erosa and Lerryan Douglas are pitted against each other in what could be a Fight of the Night frontrunner, and Mansur Abdul-Malik will look to stay unbeaten when he faces Yousri Belgaroui who like Adesanya is also a former Alex Pereira kickboxing rival.
Chilean lightweight Ignacio Bahamondes and light-heavyweight Navajo Stirling are the two most notable DWCS alumni on the prelims. Bahamondes is a potent finisher who looks to bounce back from a decision loss to Rafael Fiziev when he takes on Tofiq Musayev. Stirling is 8-0 in MMA and 3-0 in the UFC but all three of his UFC wins have been by decision, so he’ll seek his first finish against Brazil’s Bruno Lopes.
Below is the projected bout order for UFC Seattle (subject to change):
MAIN CARD
— Israel Adesanya vs. Joe Pyfer
— Alexa Grasso vs. Maycee Barber
— Michael Chiesa vs. Niko Price
— Julian Erosa vs. Lerryan Douglas
— Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Yousri Belgaroui
— Terrance McKinney vs. Kyle Nelson
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Tofiq Musayev
— Chase Hooper vs. Lance Gibson Jr.
— Marcin Tybura vs. Tyrell Fortune
— Casey O’Neill vs. Gabriella Fernandes
— Navajo Stirling vs. Bruno Lopes
— Ricky Simon vs. Adrian Yanez
— Alexia Thainara vs. Bruna Brasil
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