Video | Israel Adesanya unveils his new face tattoo

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya has shown off a new face tattoo.

Adesanya is taking the “out with the old, in with the new” approach these days. He took to his Twitter account to unveil a new face tattoo.

The old version of you must die before you come alive! 🐲 pic.twitter.com/b10RIQXZbj

— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) January 15, 2023

Adesanya’s last bout took place back in November 2022. He suffered a fifth-round TKO defeat to Alex Pereira, losing the UFC Middleweight Championship in the process. Following the loss, Adesanya spoke to reporters during the UFC 281 post-fight press conference, and he talked about needing to handle some medical issues (via LowKickMMA).

“I don’t disclose everything. I’ve had some stuff, some medical stuff, that I’ve just put on the backburner, even stuff people make fun of me for. I’ve just got to look after myself, because my health comes first. I’ve got some things to fix first, but I’ll be back.”

This was just the second defeat in Adesanya’s pro MMA career. It’s the third time he’s lost a combat sports bout against Pereira. Adesanya’s coach, Eugene Bareman, told Submission Radio that he believes “The Last Stylebender” only needs to make two adjustments in order to defeat Pereira (h/t MMAMania).

“We just have to change a couple of tactics,” he said. “Yeah, like I said, change a couple of tactics, a couple things and we’ll be sweet. And we can do that within that given timeframe, yeah.

“We’re quietly confident,” he said. “You gotta understand, we were winning that fight relatively comfortably. We felt we were taking the rounds. But not comfortable enough – when you’re fighting somebody like that, who’s gameplan appears to be, it’s not a guy who builds his gameplan around accumulation of damage.