Israel Adesanya updates timeline for UFC return (Video)

Former UFC champion Israel Adesanya anounced he'd be taking some time off from the sport after losing to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in September but now he's updated fans on how long that break will be.

“2027,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie while attending a pre-fight event for Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou. “Look for the return. I’ll see you there.”

It appears as though Ngannou was joking about that timeframe, but you make your own assumptions about tone after you watch the clip.

After his announcement, many fans assumed Adesanya was retiring for good.

“Oh my god – the way people literally – I was getting so many messages,” Adesanya said. “I was getting tagged in so many things and I’m just like, all these messages. I’m just like, ‘Yo, I’m not dead. I’m not retiring.’ Calm down. N*gga, I’m alive. I’m still kicking. So we hear.”

In early October, Adesanya said he needed time off to regroup after the loss to Strickland.

“Before this fight I was very like, ‘I know I’m on the back end of my career, so I want to do as many as I can because I know I’m done with this I’m going to miss it,'” Adesanya said on“The Rock” podcast. “I’m trying to do as much as I can. But after this fight, and again, 14 months and four fights, it’s not just the fights, it’s the training and everything. I had injuries going into the (Alex) Pereira fight, you’ve seen that. I don’t make any excuses. Strickland got me on the night because he was the better fighter on the night. He did his work well. He had a good team behind him."

Adesanya also recently pleaded guilty to a DUI which happened just weeks before he entered the Octagon. He's awaiting sentancing.