Yoel Romero believes former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya needs to reduce the intensity of his training to allow his body to recover if he hopes to bounce back from his recent slump.
Adesanya, once considered one of the most dominant fighters in the middleweight division, is currently on a three-fight losing streak, most recently suffering a TKO defeat to Nassourdine Imavov in February.
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Romero, who faced Adesanya in a UFC 248 title fight in 2020, shared his thoughts during an appearance on Submission Radio, urging “The Last Stylebender” to scale back his training intensity.
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“Israel, he needed time, he needed rest,” Romero said.
“That’s what I think. He needs to rest a little bit because there is too much damage. Now, he needs to think about training – not too hard, not too hard in the sparring. He needs to go to training like therapy, and recovery for the body. He doesn’t need too much sparring. If he wants to be back again, he needs to recover the body.”
While Adesanya took nearly a year off after his stunning loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in September 2023, he failed to reclaim the middleweight crown against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 and fell short again against Imavov earlier this year.
Romero, now 47, is still an active UFC fighter; his 2020 clash with Adesanya at UFC 248 was his final bout under the UFC banner before moving to Bellator.
