Michael Bisping: 'The reign of Israel Adesanya is done'

One minute you're on top of the world and the next you're in the valley looking up at the mountain you once climbed and ruled. It's a timeless story for athletes, and former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is the latest example of that inevitability.  

"The Last Stylebender" headlined last Saturday's UFC Saudi Arabia fight card against No. 5 ranked Nassourdine Imavov and suffered a third loss in a row. He entered the fight coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in his mixed martial arts career and has now lost in four of his last five outings.  

According to former middleweight champion Michael Bisping, Adesanya's time at the top of the 185-pound division is a thing of the past.  

"Can you believe this? The reign of Israel Adesanya is over. It's done," Bisping said on his YouTube channel. "I say that with the greatest of respect.

"Israel Adesanya is an absolute legend of the sport. He will be in the Hall of Fame, and he may go on to fight again. But I don't think he'll ever fight for a middleweight championship, or a belt of any kind," Bisping continued.

"What he's given the sport is incredible, but I always say this, 'This sport is a motherf*cker.' You scratch and claw. You work your way to the top. You deal with a lot of bullish*t. You work your God damn ass off.  You go through injuries. You put relationships to one side. You've got to be selfish and work your f*cking ass off."

Bisping acknowledged Adesanya's status in the history of the middleweight division. He defended the belt more times that anyone not named Anderson Silva.  He's one of the greatest middleweights to grace the octagon but the sport is unforgiving.  

"Guess what this sport does.  It picks you up, it uses you up, it chews you up and the it spits you out," Bisping said. "That sounds harsh but that's what it does. And that's what it's done to Israel Adesanya."