What's next for Israel Adesanya after Joe Pyfer loss?

When the dust settled on Saturday night Israel Adesanya affirmed his commitment to keep fighting, despite a second-round TKO against Joe Pyfer marking his fourth-straight defeat.

The former UFC middleweight champion started brightly against rising contender Pyfer, looking comfortable inside the Octagon and demonstrating the striking skills that had seen him capture gold at 185lbs.

The momentum of the fight swung decisively in the second round however, with Pyfer able to secure a takedown and land a barrage of ground and pound.

With Adesanya unable to intelligently defend himself referee Herb Dean ultimately stopped the fight with less than a minute remaining in the round, condemning the the 36-year-old to another defeat and putting his future inside the Octagon into question.

In his post-fight interview Adesanya was as gracious as ever in defeat, and insisted he intends to fight on - with UFC president Dana White agreeing that the New Zealander still has more to give.

As he approaches uncharted territory in his distinguished career, we've taken a look at three potential options for Israel Adesanya's next fight.

Who will Israel Adesanya fight next?

Kelvin Gastelum

It's fair to say that the careers of Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum have been on vastly different trajectories since they faced off at UFC 236.

On that night in April 2019 Adesanya outlasted the Ultimate Fighter winner in one of the most iconic fights in the history of mixed martial arts to get his first taste of UFC gold.

Their five-round war has since been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, and while Gastelum has failed to reach the heights that so many predicted of him following his gutsy losing performance - it appears that the time has time has come for their paths to meet once more.

Gastelum is set to take on fellow veteran Vicente Luque at UFC 327 next month, but regardless of the outcome of that fight - a rematch with Izzy would be a perfect way to celebrate two of the of the division's most exciting talents.

Christian Leroy Duncan

While the UFC's most recent trip to British shores proved to be a mixed bag for UK contingent on the card, one fighter who emerged with his stock rising was Christian Leroy Duncan.

Against perennial contender Roman Dolidze 'CLD' claimed the biggest win of his career to date, preventing Dolidze from effectively implementing his submission threat and getting the nod on the judges' scorecards in a clash that is not likely to win any Fight of the Year awards.

While he got his hand raised to extend his winning streak inside the Octagon to four-in-a-row, the Briton needs the kind of dance partner that would allow him to showcase his striking.

And who better to do that than one of the best strikers the division has ever seen?

Adesanya vs Leroy Duncan would be an ideal headliner for a UFC Fight Night card in the UK, and would potentially put CLD on the path to superstardom if he could get an impressive victory over the former champion on home soil.

Jack Hermansson

For an extended period at the start of the decade it appeared that Jack Hermansson was on a collision course with Israel Adesanya.

During that time Adesanya ruled over the middleweight division with an iron fist, dispatching a sequence of challengers to a point where there were few worthy contenders in the top ten that hadn't been given their shot at the belt.

Hermansson put himself into title contention on several occasions but was never able to get over the final hurdle and now finds his career at an impasse having suffered back-to-back defeats in the first round.

At 37 his days as one of the elite fighters of the division may be over but the Swede is still capable of pulling off an upset, and a fight with Adesanya would be the perfect measuring rod for where both men stand in 2026.