Last night's loss to Dricus Du Plessis leaves the Stylebender with a record of just 4-4 since 2021, leaving fans wondering if he should just retire. I mean, he's not getting any younger, the guy has already made plenty of money, he's reached the pinnacle of the sport, why not just retire now while most of your legacy and reputation is still in tact?

That's probably what most would do, but Adesanya is just a different kind of guy, and it's clear when you look at the full history of his professional fighting career, where he has eclipsed a staggering 100 career wins. No matter what you think Adesanya should do next, it doesn't really matter, as he made it clear he would continue his career in the post fight interview.

The only question now is what will the future of Izzy's career look like? Will he remain at middleweight and look to reclaim the belt he held for so many years? Or will he look to move to a different weight class, specifically the light heavyweight division, where there are plenty of fresh fights waiting for him.

I personally thought Adesanya looked great last night, he was looking to move forward and be the first to strike much more frequently than in his most recent performances. His boxing looked improved, as he was consistently and accurately landing on Du Plessis to the body, which looked to severely fatigue the South African. He was even doing great on getting the fight back to the feet when Du Plessis would take him down, that was until... well you know.

Regardless of how well Izzy fought last night until that fateful moment in the fourth round, that was probably the best performance he could've gave against Du Plessis, and it still wasn't enough. I think it would be best for him to move up to light heavyweight if he wants to remain in title contention for the twilight of his fighting career.

Aside from the fact it would give us fans plenty of new and exciting fights to look forward to, Adesanya is simply a more skillful fighter than most of the top guys at light heavyweight, making the prospect of Izzy having an opportunity to fight for another belt that much more realistic.

All things considered, the best fight you can make right now for Izzy is against Jiri Prochazka, a kickboxer with a pressure heavy style that could certainly cause problems for Adesanya, but has holes that greatly play into Izzy's strengths, specifically how open Jiri leaves himself to leg kicks when he is not blitzing forward, as we saw in both his fights with Light Heavyweight champ Alex Periera.

Adesanya v. Prochazka is not only a great stylistic matchup, but one that could bring some order to the Light Heavyweight division, as Periera has already beaten or scared off anyone that can be considered a viable challenger.

If Adesanya wins, have him fight Periera again to settle the score in MMA, if Prochazka wins, have him fight Jamahal Hill, or even Khalil Rountree when he inevitably loses to Periera in their upcoming fight at UFC 307.

Hopefully, by the time Adesanya, or Prochazka, or whoever it is that gets their next opportunity at Alex Periera and the Light Heavyweight belt, Magomed Ankalaev will finally stop making excuses and fight Periera where he wants to fight, on the champions terms, as it should be.