Israel Adesanya: 'I'm Not F--king Leaving' UFC After Loss to Dricus Du Plessis

UFC star Israel Adesanya affirmed he's "not f--king leaving" after losing to Dricus Du Plessis in the main event of UFC 305 on Saturday.

The former middleweight champion acknowledged in his post-fight interview, though, that he "didn't think this far" when asked by Daniel Cormier what's next.

The 35-year-old finds himself in an unfamiliar position.

Each of his last 12 fights saw him either challenging for or defending a UFC title. Extending that streak to 13 seems unlikely when he has lost two bouts in a row and three of his last four. In addition, UFC president Dana White said leading up to UFC 305 that Sean Strickland will get the winner of the main event.

That leaves Adesanya stuck somewhere in the middle of the middleweight title picture.

Moving into a different weight class probably isn't all that sensible, either. When he tried his hand in the light heavyweight realm, "The Last Stylebender" was at a decided physical disadvantage and lost decisively to champion Jan Błachowicz.

Bleacher Report's Alex Ballentine threw out Marvin Vettori, Jared Cannonier and Paulo Costa as potential opponents for Adesanya in his next foray inside the Octagon. While all three would be rematches, each of the trio is among the top 10 challengers in UFC's fighter rankings.

Adesanya was unequivocal about his future more broadly. Once the emotions from Saturday's defeat subside, he'll have to think long and hard about what he wants to achieve at this stage of his career.