Israel Adesanya hasn’t had the best of results inside the Octagon, and it seems the former UFC middleweight champion is turning over a new leaf. Adesanya recently trained with David Goggins, possibly to reclaim the hunger to become a champion.
Goggins, a retired Navy SEAL, is now a motivational speaker who lets his actions do the talking by competing in ultramarathons and similar competitions.
Israel Adesanya Struggles To Match David Goggins
Adesanya recently released snippets of his training session with Goggins on his Instagram. “The Last Stylebender” did long-distance runs, crunches, pull-ups, and many more exercises. The former middleweight champion looked extremely exhausted while working out on the step climber machine.
The clip also showed Adesanya vomiting into a wastebin, hinting that he went through hell with Goggins, who apparently did all the aforementioned workouts with ease.
“One of the most brutal training sessions I have ever done. Stay tuned…,” Adesanya captioned the Instagram post.
This wasn’t the first time that Goggins trained a UFC fighter. Tony Ferguson, the former interim UFC lightweight champion, trained with the 50-year-old before his fight with Paddy Pimblett at UFC 296. Goggins was even in Ferguson’s corner for the fight. Still, “El Cucuy” lost the fight.
Ferguson, who was past his prime and on a long losing streak, had received widespread criticism for training with Goggins. The 41-year-old would only fight one more time in the UFC, against Michael Chiesa, before the promotion released him.
Athletes React to Adesanya Training With Goggins
Several high-profile athletes reacted to Adesanya’s gruelling training session with Goggins. Unlike the majority of fan reactions, athletes’ responses seemed to be positive.
“Just thinking: could Goggins take a hard sparring session until the end too? I’m not saying beat up a pro, I’m saying staying until the end. Just thinking,” Caio Borralho pondered.
Plinio Cruz, Alex Pereira’s coach, commented, “Solid! Chama,” while Kamaru Usman wrote, “Ah ah, you wan kill yourself.”
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rampage Jackson, BKFC stalwart Mike Perry, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Blake Snell, and recently retired UFC lightweight Jalin Turner were among the other big names who commented.
As for his next fight, Adesanya revealed to Goggins that he is looking to rematch Sean Strickland, who defeated him to claim the middleweight title at UFC 293. Strickland recently fought at UFC 312, where he lost to Dricus Du Plessis. It was a rematch of their first encounter at UFC 297, where the South African won the title from the American fighter.